r^ 


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PROVIDENCE    IN   COLONIAL  TIMES 


I  ^-<-—^fmf^Pf!^^i.m^^>'  ^ 


View  of  Market  Square 

Showing  the  First  Baptist  Meeting-house  on  the  left, 
the  old  "  Coffee  House  "  in  the  centre,  and  the  old  Market 
House  on  the  right.  This  is  the  earliest  view  of  the 
square,  and  is  taken  from  the  diploma  of  the  Providence 
Association  of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers.  It  was 
drawn  about  1824. 


a^AUpS    T3X>fAM    10    W31  / 

iijIibM  bio orfl  bne  .  K.  jrb 

aanabi/oi'I  ^di  \o  i:rnoIqib  odi  rnoi^  n9>lBt  si  buB  ,-ncup3 


PROVIDENCE 

IN 

Colonial  Times 

By  Gertrude  Selwyn  Kimball 

PFith  an  introduction  by  J.  Franklin  Jameson,  LL.D. 


ILLUSTRATED 


Boston  &  New  York 

Houghton  Mifflin  Company 

mdccccxii 


COPYRIGHT,   19 1 2,  BY   HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


FIVE     HUNDRED     AND    FIFTY     COPIES 
PRINTED    AT    THE    RIVERSIDE    PRESS 
CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS,  U.  S.  A. 
NUMBER      Sy^  S" 


Contents 

I.    The  Planter  and  his  Plantation  3 

II.    The  Age  of  the  Charters  23 
III.   Roger  Williams  and  the  Town  of 

Providence  —  King  Philip's  War  60 

IV.   The  Seventeenth  Century  100 
V.    A  Group  of  Newcomers  and  King's 

Church  145 
VI.    Progress,  Ecclesiastical  and  Secu- 
lar 188 
VII.    The  Shipping  Trade  226 
VIII.    The  Colonial  Town  of  Providence  278 
IX.    Rhode    Island    College    and    the 

"Baptist  Cathedral"  235 

X.    Providence  Houses,  1785-1830  2^^ 

Index  377 


2040ir>. 


Illustrations 


View  of  Market  Square  Frontispiece 

Showing  the  First  Baptist  Meeting-house  on  the  left, 
the  old  "  Coffee  House  "  in  the  centre,  and  the  old  Market 
House  on  the  right.  This  is  the  earliest  view  of  the 
square,  and  is  taken  from  the  diploma  of  the  Providence 
Association  of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers.  It  was 
drawn  about  1824. 

Roger  Williams  House  at  Salem  10 

From  a  drawing  in  Edwin  Whitefield's  Homes  of  our 
Forefathers  in  Massachusetts,  1880. 

Compass  and  Sun-dial  16 

Owned  by  Roger  Williams  and  presumably  used  by  him 
on  his  journey  into  exile  in  1635.  Its  line  of  descent  has 
been  traced  from  Roger  Williams  to  its  present  custodian, 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Picture  of  Slate  Rock  and  Seekonk  River  18 

From  a  water-color  sketch  painted  by  Edward  L.  Peck- 
ham  in  1832,  now  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Map  of  Providence  24 

Showing  the  residents  of  the  town,  1650.  Compiled  by 
Henry  R.  Chace. 

Title-page    to    Roger  Williams's  "Key  to  the 

Indian  Language"  34 

From  the  original  in  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library. 

Richard  Smith  Block-house  at  Cocumscussuc  46 

Constructed  by  Richard  Smith,  Jr.,  about  1680,  partly 
from  the  materials  of  the  old  garrison  house.    From  a 


viii  Illustrations 

drawing  in  Whitefield's  Homes  of  our  Forefathers  in 
Rhode  Island,  1882. 

Portrait  of  William  Coddington  48 

From  original  portrait  in  Court  House  at  Newport. 

Signature  of  Roger  Williams  52 

As  President  of  the  Colony,  November  2,  1654.  From 
the  original  document  in  the  Moses  Brown  Papers,  vol. 
18,  p.  67,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Title-page    of    Samuel    Gorton's  "Simplicities 

Defence  against  Seven-Headed  Policy"  60 

From  the  original  in  the  library  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society. 

Document  of  1669  74 

Signed  by  WiUiam  Carpenter,  William  Harris,  Thomas 
Olney,  Jr.,  Thomas  Harris,  Thomas  Olney,  Sr.,  and  John 
Whipple.  From  the  original  in  Moses  Brown  Papers,  vol. 
18,  p.  69,  in  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Petition  drawn  by  William  Harris,  September 

17,  1677,  directed  to  Gov.  Josiah  Winslow  84 

From  original  in  Harris  Papers,  p.  91,  in  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society. 

"Mark"  of  King  Philip  '  96 

Affixed  to  a  deed    of    1659.    From    original  in  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 

The  Roger  Mowry  Tavern  ho 

Later  the  Whipple  House,  on  Abbott  Street,  torn  down 
in  1900.   From  a  wood-cut  made  about  i860. 

Joseph  Williams  House  142 

Built  by  the  son  of  Roger  Williams.  Formerly  stood  on 
Elmwood  Avenue  and  was  torn  down  in  1886.  From  a 
water-color  drawing  made  in  1858  by  Edward  L.  Peck- 
ham,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


Illustrations  ix 

John  Crawford  House  152 

Mill  Street.  Built  about  1 710,  torn  down  1898.  From 
a  photograph  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 
taken  in  1865. 

Peter  Randall  House  152 

Opposite  the  North  Burying  Ground.  Built  about  1755. 
From  a  photograph  taken  in  1902. 

Relics  which  belonged  to  Gabriel  Bernon  160 

From  an  old  painting  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society.  The  original  relics  —  the  sword,  delft  jar,  gold 
rattle,  and  psalter —  are  now  owned  by  the  Society. 

St.  John's  Church  164 

Built  1722  and  demolished  18 10.  From  a  drawing,  made 
by  Zachariah  Allen,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  Library. 

Oath  of  Samuel  Winsor,  1713  168 

Regarding  card-playing  by  William  Turpin  and  Edward 
Hawkins.  From  the  original  document  in  the  Moses 
Brown  Papers,  vol.  18,  p.  69,  in  the  Rhode  Island  His- 
torical Society. 

Title-page  of  Rev.   John   Checkley's   "Modest 

Proof,"  Boston,  1723.  170 

From  a  copy  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Letter  from  Rev.  James  McSparran  to  Gabriel 

Bernon,  July  2,  1721  184 

From  original  document  in  Bernon  Papers,  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 

First  Congregational  Meeting  House  192 

Corner  Benefit  and  College  Streets,  built  1723,  used  as 
the  Town  House  and  as  a  police  court  after  1795,  and  de- 


X  Illustrations 

molished  i860.  From  a  water-color  sketch  by  Edward  L. 
Peckham,  made  in  i860,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society. 

Map  of  Rhode  Island  206 

Surveyed  by  James  Helme  and  William  Chandler,  1741, 
from  the  manuscript  map  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society.  The  portion  reproduced  shows  Providence 
County. 

Stephen  Hopkins  House  210 

Built  about  1742,  moved  up  Hopkins  Lane  from  its 
former  location  on  the  Main  Street  in  1804.  From  a 
photograph  by  Willis  A.  Dean,  1911. 

Old  State  House  212 

North  Main  Street,  built  1760.  From  a  photograph 
taken  in  191 1. 

Letter  of  "Directions"  from  James  Brown  to  his 

Wife,  August  23,  1737  234 

From  the  Moses  Brown  Papers,  vol.  I,  p.  3,  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 

Sign  of  "The  Bunch  of  Grapes"  240 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  early  commercial  signs  of 
Providence,  and  dating  from  about  1760.  Now  in  the 
museum  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Portrait  of  Moses  Brown  258 

Reproduced  from  an  engraving  after  a  drawing  by 
William  J.  Harris. 

Scene   in   a   Public   House    in    Surinam,   about 

1769  268 

After  a  painting  by  John  Greenwood,  reproduced  in 
Field's  Esek  Hopkins.  The  two  figures  on  the  further 
side  of  the  round  table  are  Nicholas  Cooke,  later  gov- 


Illustrations  xi 

ernor  of  the  colony,  smoking  a  long  pipe  and  engaged  in 
conversation  with  Esek  Hopkins. 

Deputy-Governor  Elisha  Brown  House  280 

North  Main  Street,  north  of  OIney  Street.  Built  about 
1759,  the  first  brick  house  in  the  compact  part  of  the 
town  of  Providence.  From  a  photograph  taken  in  1865, 
now  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Broadside  Lampoon  282 

Issued  by  the  Hopkins  party  in  1763  against  Samuel 
Ward  and  Gideon  Wanton.  From  a  copy  of  the  broad- 
side in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society.  Reduced  to 
about  half  size. 

Discourse   on  the   Repeal   of  the   Stamp  Act, 

1766.  300 

By  Rev.  David  S.  Rowland.  From  copy  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 

Announcement  of  Installation  of  New  Organ  at 

King's  Church,  1771  304 

From  the  original  broadside  in  the  John  Carter  Brown 
Library. 

Playing-Card  Invitation  312 

From  John  Brown  for  a  dance  at  his  nev/  house,  1788. 
From  original  in  John  Carter  Brown  Library. 

The    First    Issue    of   the    Providence   Gazette     314 

Established  by  William  Goddard  in  1762.  From  copy  in 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

Portrait  of  William  Goddard  316 

From  a  reproduction  of  the  original  portrait  owned  by 
the  late  Col.  William  Goddard. 


xii  Illustrations 

Shakespeare's  Head  (now  21  Meeting  Street)        320 

The  printing  office,  post-office  and  residence  of  John 
Carter,  where  the  Providence  Gazette  was  printed  after 
1772.  The  house  beyond  is  the  Updike  House.  From  a 
photograph,  taken  in  191 1,  by  Willis  A.  Dean. 

Portrait  of  James  Manning,  President  of  Brown 

University  336 

From  an  early  engraving. 

Diploma  from  Rhode  Island  College  (now  Brown 

University)  1789  342 

Signed  by  James  Manning,  David  Howell,  Perez  Fobes, 
and  Benjamin  West.  From  original  document  in  the 
Brown  University  Library. 

Old  view  of  the  First  College  Building  and  the 

President's  House,  erected  1770  352 

From  an  early  engraving,  made  by  S.  Hill  after  a  draw- 
ing by  D.  Leonard. 

View  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  358 

Corner  of  Benefit  and  Benevolent  Streets,  erected  1795, 
destroyed  by  fire,  1814.  From  an  old  engraving  by 
William  Hamlin. 

View    of    the    First    Baptist    Meeting-House, 

erected  1775  360 

From  an  engraving  first  printed  in  the  Massachusetts 
Magazine  for  August,  1789,  and  engraved  by  S.  Hill. 

John  Brown  House,  Power  Street  366 

Now  owned  by  Marsden  J.  Perry.  Erected  1786,  and 
referred  to  by  John  Quincy  Adams  in  1789  as  "the  most 
magnificent  and  elegant  private  mansion  that  I  have 
ever  seen  on  this  continent."  From  a  photograph,  1911, 
by  Willis  A.  Dean. 


Illustrations  xiii 

Joseph  Nightingale  House  370 

Benefit  Street,  erected  by  Joseph  Nightingale  about 
1 79 1.  It  was  sold  in  18 14  to  Nicholas  Brown  and  for 
many  years  was  the  home  of  the  John  Carter  Brown 
Library  —  the  finest  existing  collection  of  books  relating 
to  the  early  history  of  America.  From  a  photograph 
taken  in  1902. 

Sullivan  Dorr  House  372 

Corner  of  Benefit  and  Bowen  Streets,  built  early  in  the 
last  century  and  designed  by  John  H.  Greene.  It  was 
long  the  residence  of  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  whose  efforts  to 
reform  the  suffrage  in  Rhode  Island  brought  about  the 
Dorr  War.     From  a  photograph  taken  about  1870. 

The  Arcade  374 

Built  1827-28;  for  many  years  after  its  construction 
one  of  the  chief  objects  of  interest  to  visitors.  From  an 
old  lithograph  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


Introduction 

GERTRUDE  SELWYN  KIMBALL,  the 
writer  of  this  book,  was  born  on  January  29, 
1863,  at  Blackstone,  Massachusetts,  the 
child  of  Henry  Clay  Kimball  and  Elizabeth  Fair- 
brother  Farnum  his  wife.  Both  parents  were  of  the 
old  New  England  stock,  the  father  an  intelligent  man- 
ufacturer, of  Rhode  Island  descent,  the  mother  a  re- 
fined and  studious  woman,  partly  of  Quaker  origin, 
versed  in  French  and  Italian  literature  to  a  degree 
unusual  in  Massachusetts  villages  in  that  day.  The 
mother  died  early.  The  daughter's  education  was  in 
her  earlier  years  obtained  at  the  hands  of  a  devoted 
aunt.  An  elder  brother,  student  in  Amherst  College, 
was  her  mentor  during  early  girlhood.  Later  she 
attended  excellent  private  schools  in  Providence, 
and  before  many  years  the  family  removed  to  that 
city,  the  natural  metropolis  of  the  Blackstone  Val- 
ley. In  Providence  she  always  afterward  resided, 
and  with  it  she  may  be  said  to  have  had  a  lifelong 
familiarity. 

Natural  quickness  and  clearness  of  apprehension 
gave  every  educational  opportunity  full  chance  to 
fructify,  and  her  eager  mind  reached  out  into  many 
fields  of  reading  not  then  the  ordinary  province  of 
attractive  young  ladies  who  enjoyed  life  and  society 
in  full  measure.  To  one  who  first  met  her  when  she 


xvi  Introduction 

must  have  been  about  twenty-seven,  there  still  re- 
mains a  vivid  remembrance  of  the  astonishment 
with  which  at  that  first  meeting  he  heard  this  beauti- 
ful girl  debate,  with  light  wit  but  with  extraordinary 
acuteness  and  good  sense,  the  movements  then  cur- 
rent in  political  economy.  Collegiate  education  for 
young  women  was  still  a  novelty  at  the  time  when 
Miss  Kimball  would  naturally  have  sought  it,  but 
she  did  much  of  her  reading  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Study  at 
Home. 

Soon  after  the  doors  of  Brown  University  were 
first  opened  to  women.  Miss  Kimball  entered  some 
of  its  classes,  more  especially  those  in  history,  and  at 
various  times,  indeed  for  five  academic  years  in  the 
period  from  1894  to  1901,  she  was  enrolled  as  one  of 
its  special  students,  never  seeking  a  degree,  but  al- 
ways pursuing  with  eager  intelligence  and  singular 
skill  the  subjects  of  her  choice.  Her  fitness  to  pursue 
graduate  courses  was  so  soon  demonstrated  that 
most  of  her  academic  work  lay  in  them.  All  was 
done  with  fine  precision  but  without  pedantry,  in  the 
best  spirit  of  the  amateur  who  loves  learning  for  its 
own  sake  yet  appreciates  that  its  choicest  pleasures 
are  not  to  be  had  through  the  methods  of  the  mere 
dilettante,  but  by  adding  to  the  amateur's  breadth 
and  sense  of  proportion  the  care  and  exactness  of 
the  professional  scholar. 

This  spirit  was  not  changed  when,  by  reason  of  her 


Introduction  xvii 

father's  death,  Miss  Kimball  began  within  the  period 
mentioned  to  use  her  rich  acquirements  and  her  gifts 
of  expression  for  other  purposes  than  those  of  her 
own  pleasure  and  cultivation.  As  a  teacher  for  a 
dozen  years  in  the  chief  private  school  for  girls  in 
Providence,  and  for  a  less  time  in  another,  she  made 
her  instruction  vivid  and  brilliant,  laying  her  treas- 
ures of  historical  and  literary  knowledge  before 
young  minds  with  an  adaptive  skill  born  of  the  ama- 
teur's good  sense,  of  keen  insight  into  youthful  char- 
acter, of  catholic  intellectual  sympathies,  of  a  genial 
sense  of  humor  and  a  kind  heart.  It  was  a  matter 
of  course  that  susceptible  girls  should  be  impressed 
by  her  beauty,  her  charm,  and  her  cleverness,  but 
they  also  found  in  her  a  helpful  and  appreciative 
friend.  Her  views  of  history  were  just  and  sane. 
Her  inherited  interest  in  business  and  her  studies  in 
economic  and  political  science  enabled  her  to  widen 
the  cloistered  minds  of  well-to-do  girls  by  large 
glimpses  of  the  masculine  view  of  public  affairs.  Her 
methods  of  teaching  were  both  sound  and  ingenious. 
Her  remarkable  memory  permitted  her  to  make  her 
teaching  free  and  informal,  her  wit  made  it  lively 
and  mordant. 

An  ambition  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  pro- 
ductive scholarship  developed  out  of  the  university 
courses  which  have  been  mentioned.  To  the  editor 
of  the  American  Historical  Review,  conducted  in 
Providence  in  its  earlier  years,  she  rendered  valuable 


xviii  Introduction 

services,  and  helped  signally  and  often  in  the  work 
of  the  Historical  Manuscripts  Commission  estab- 
lished in  those  days  by  the  American  Historical  As- 
sociation. A  "seminary"  paper  developed  into  her 
first  independent  publication,  a  brief  but  solid  and 
entertaining  monograph  on  The  East  India  Trade 
of  Providence  from  lySy  to  i8oy,  read  before  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  and  published  at 
Providence  in  1 896.  Next  came  a  volume  oi  Pictures 
of  Rhode  Island  in  the  Past,  1 642-18 j^,  published  at 
Providence  in  1899,  in  v^hich  Miss  Kimball  printed 
a  series  of  interesting  descriptions  of  Rhode  Island 
by  travellers  who  visited  it  in  the  seventeenth,  the 
eighteenth,  and  the  early  nineteenth  centuries. 

A  "seminary"  inspection  of  the  archives  of  the 
state  of  Rhode  Island  led  to  a  paper  on  those  ar- 
chives, read  before  the  Society  of  Colonial  Dames  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  this  in  turn  to  the  editing  for  that 
society  of  The  Correspondence  of  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ors of  Rhode  Island,  1723-1'/'/ 5,  published  at  Boston 
in  two  handsome  volumes  in  1902  and  1903.  The 
letters  printed  in  this  valuable  publication  were 
drawn  from  the  Rhode  Island  archives  and  other 
sources,  and  provided  with  an  introduction  and  anno- 
tations so  learned  and  skilful  as  to  make  the  book  an 
important  source  for  colonial  history.  Its  prepar- 
ation laid  the  foundation  of  that  ripe  knowledge  of 
Rhode  Island  affairs  in  the  eighteenth  century  which 
appears  so  plainly  in  the  present  book. 


Introduction  xix 

The  thoroughness,  scholarship,  and  good  taste 
with  which  this  work  was  executed  led  the  National 
Society  of  the  Colonial  Dames  of  America,  in  begin- 
ning their  useful  and  highly  creditable  series  of  docu- 
mentary historical  publications,  to  invite  Miss  Kim- 
ball to  edit  for  them  their  first  two  volumes,  com- 
prising The  Correspondence  of  William  Pitt,  when 
Secretary  of  State,  with  Colonial  Governors  and  Mili- 
tary and  Naval  Commissioners  [Commanders]  in 
America  (New  York,  igo6).  The  task  was  similar, 
and  was  performed  with  the  same  skill.  It  has  fur- 
nished the  student  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  with 
an  invaluable  source  of  knowledge  respecting  the 
guidance,  the  dominating  ideas,  and  the  events  of 
that  struggle  in  its  most  heroic  years.  The  materials 
of  which  it  was  composed  are  preserved  in  the  Pub- 
lic Record  Office  in  London,  and  were  investigated 
there  by  Miss  Kimball  in  the  course  of  a  year  in 
Europe. 

The  year  alluded  to,  that  of  1902-03,  was  spent 
mostly  in  Rome,  where  Miss  Kimball  enjoyed  both 
her  archaeological  studies  and  lectures  at  the  uni- 
versity and  her  opportunities  for  acquiring  a  know- 
ledge of  Italian  life  and  character.  With  the  exception 
of  this  year,  and  of  one  or  two  briefer  visits  to  Eu- 
rope, all  her  later  life  was  spent  In  Providence,  in 
such  occupations  as  have  been  Indicated  above.  But 
many  of  her  hours  were  spent  in  Providence  society, 
in  which  she  was  a  bright  and  welcome  presence. 


XX  Introduction 

Her  cheerful  and  even  gay  spirits;  her  refined  and  re- 
sourceful mind,  her  wit  and  tact,  her  extraordinary 
quickness  and  skill  in  conversation,  her  beauty  and 
grace  and  obvious  distinction,  but  above  all  her 
humane  feeling  and  friendly  kindness,  made  her  a 
constant  source  of  social  pleasure.  She,  on  the  other 
hand,  enjoyed  and  appreciated  Providence.  She 
knew  its  foibles.  She  knew  that  one  could  not  found 
a  town  in  extreme  individualism  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  nourish  it  by  commerce  in  the  eighteenth 
and  by  manufactures  in  the  nineteenth,  and  then  ex- 
pect it  to  show  in  the  twentieth  no  traces  of  "other- 
wisemindedness,"  no  regard  for  mundane  maxims, 
no  tendency  to  prefer  individual  solvency  above  so- 
cial reform.  But,  as  the  reader  of  this  book  will 
easily  see,  she  looked  with  a  gentle  smile  upon  the 
imperfections  and  peculiarities  of  the  quaint  colonial 
town  and  vigorous  modern  city  she  knew  so  well, 
and  wrote  of  its  development  con  amore. 

In  this  city  of  her  affection,  on  the  twentieth  day 
of  June,  1910,  Miss  Kimball  came  suddenly  and  pre- 
maturely, but  with  characteristic  bravery,  to  the  end 
of  her  bright  and  vivid  life,  leaving  to  many  hearts 
tlie  poignant  remembrance  of  exceptional  accom- 
plishments and  charm,  and  of  not  less  exceptional 
force  of  character,  sympathy,  and  human  kindness. 

Rose  Aylmer,  all  were  thine ! 
During  the  closing  months  of  her  life,  she  had  been 


Introduction  xxi 

much  occupied  with  a  portrayal  of  the  history  of 
Providence.  At  her  death,  it  was  found  that  the  chap- 
ters running  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  had  been  quite  finished  and  were  ready  for  pub- 
lication. In  tribute  to  her  memory  these  chapters, 
having  a  unity  of  their  own  as  presenting  the  story  of 
Providence  in  Colonial  Times,  are  now  published. 
For  later  chapters  many  notes  had  been  taken, 
but  nothing  had  been  written  save  a  fragmentary 
chapter  on  Providence  Houses  of  the  period  im- 
mediately after  the  Revolution.  This  fragmentary 
chapter  is  appended. 

J.  Franklin  Jameson. 


PROVIDENCE    IN   COLONIAL  TIMES 


WWW' 


PROVIDENCE 

IN   Colonial  Times 

Chapter  I 

THE  PLANTER  AND  HIS  PLANTATION 

IN  the  reign  of  King  James  the  First  of  England 
the  celebrated  jurist  and  statesman  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  while  presiding  one  day  in  the  Court  of 
Star  Chamber,  found  his  attention  attracted  by  a 
bright-faced  boy  of  some  fourteen  years. 

The  lad  was  diligently  employed  in  taking  down 
in  shorthand  the  sermons  and  speeches  delivered 
before  that  august  assembly  of  learned  judges  and 
lords.  His  industry,  modest  bearing,  and  winning 
personality  induced  the  great  man  to  make  inquiries 
as  to  his  lineage  and  prospects.  Thereby  he  learned 
that  the  boy's  name  was  Roger  Williams.  His  father 
was  a  well-to-do  merchant  tailor  of  the  City  of  Lon- 
don, while  his  mother  could  boast  a  connection  with 
the  Pemberton  family,  and  it  is  not  in  the  least  im- 
probable that  to  this  family  influence  young  Roger 
owed  his  employment  within  the  precincts  of  the  Star 
Chamber.  It  was  by  no  means  an  ill  wind  that  led 
Sir  Edward  Coke  to  interest  himself  in  the  little  short- 
hand scribe.  He  placed  the  boy  in  the  Charterhouse 


4   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

School,  and  later  made  it  possible  for  him  to  enter 
Pembroke  College  at  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his 
degree  in  1626. 

These  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  were 
stirring  times  throughout  England,  and  especially 
for  London,  the  centre  of  the  political  and  commer- 
cial life  of  the  nation.  The  London  of  the  seventeenth 
century  was  fiercely  Protestant,  and  this  protesting 
spirit  fostered  and  upheld  the  right  of  free  thought 
and  free  doctrine,  as  against  the  force  of  authority. 

That  the  young  student  at  Cambridge  was  conver- 
sant with  the  great  questions  of  his  time  cannot  admit 
of  doubt.  His  university  was  a  centre  for  liberal  opin- 
ions, and  he  himself  was  ever  an  eager  student  and 
questioner  of  "things  unseen."  We  have  no  positive 
knowledge  of  his  career  after  leaving  the  university, 
until  the  year  1629.  Ii^  that  year  Laud  became  Bishop 
of  London,  and  immediately  the  people  of  his  great 
diocese,  nine  tenths  of  whom,  if  not  Puritan,  were 
strongly  Protestant,  saw  with  rage  and  indignation 
the  forcible  introduction  into  their  religious  service 
of  forms  and  ceremonies  most  offensive  to  their  Puri- 
tan feelings.  They  saw  their  honored  clergy  expelled 
from  their  pulpits,  and  they  watched  with  horror  and 
fear  the  encroachments  of  that  ritual,  which,  in  their 
eyes,  led  nowhere  but  to  Rome  and  perdition.  In 
1629,  the  great  emigration  to  America  began.  Men 
and  women  of  every  station  and  every  calling  crowded 
to  the  ships.   For  one  and  all,  the  man  of  rank  and 


^Planter  and  "Plantation        5 

property,  the  farmer,  and  the  tradesman,  the  vital 
issue  was  his  religious  creed.  In  1630,  alone,  seven- 
teen hundred  souls  crossed  the  bleak  Atlantic  to  the 
wilderness. 

And  it  is  in  this  critical  year  of  1629,  when  Eng- 
land is  seething  with  excitement  and  the  strife  of 
many  tongues  is  raging,  that  we  again  catch  sight  of 
the  future  pioneer  of  religious  liberty  in  America. 
"  Far  from  the  madding  crowd,"  he  is  living  at  the 
country-seat  of  Sir  William  Masham,  of  Otes,  Essex, 
in  the  capacity  of  chaplain,  and,  like  many  another 
young  man  in  a  similar  position,  he  has  fallen  in  love 
with  a  certain  fair  virgin  of  the  house,  who  appears 
to  have  been  a  cousin  of  the  Lady  Masham.  The 
young  lover  is  moved  to  consult  her  guardian  and 
aunt,  Lady  Barrington.  This  stately  duenna  was 
likewise  aunt  to  no  less  a  personage  than  the  great 
Oliver,  the  future  Lord  Protector  of  England,  whose 
path  was  to  cross  that  of  the  young  chaplain  at  more 
than  one  auspicious  moment,  in  the  years  to  come. 
To  her,  in  the  spring  of  1629,  there  came  the  follow- 
ing frank  confession :  — 

Dear  and  honoured  Madame, 

Many  and  often  speeches  have  long  fluttered  or 
flowne  abroad  concerning  your  Ladiships  neere  kins- 
woman and  my  unworthy  selfe.  ...  I  acknowledge 
my  selfe  altogeather  unworthy  unmeete  for  such  a 
proposition.  The  neereness  of  her  blood  to  your  Ladi- 
ship  &  godly  flourishing  branches  hath  forc't  me  to 
confesse  her  Portion,  in  that  regard,  to  be  beyond  com- 


6   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

pare  invaluable.  Yet  many  feares  have  much  possest 
me  Longe.  I  have  to  discover  that  sinceritie  and  Godli- 
ness which  makes  the  Lord  himselfe  to  like  his  Crea- 
ture. .  .  .  Objections  have  come  in  about  her  spirit, 
much  accused  for  passionate  &  hastie,  rash  &  unconstant. 
.  .  .  For  my  own  part  It  is  well  knowne  .  .  .  How 
a  gracious  God  &  tender  conscience  .  .  .  hath  kept 
me  back  from  honour  and  preferment  Besides  many 
former  offers  &  that  late  New  England  call,  I  have  since 
had  2  severall  livings  preferred  to  me  each  of  them 
100/  per  annum:  but  as  things  yet  stand  among  us  I 
see  not  how  any  meanes  &  I  shall  meet  that  way  .  .  . 
besides  this  meanes  .  .  .  little  there  is  yet  I  can  call 
mine.  After  the  death  of  an  aged  loving  mother 
amongst  some  other  Children  I  may  expect  (though 
for  the  present  she  be  close  &  will  not  promise)  some  20/, 
or  20  marks  per  annum.  At  hand  undisposed  of  I  have 
some  7  score  pieces  &  a  little  (yet  costlie)  studie  of 
bookes.  ...  I  shall  add  for  the  present  I  know  none 
in  the  world  I  more  affect  &  (had  the  Lord  been  pleased 
to  say  amen  in  those  other  regards)  should  doubtles 
have  fully  answered  (if  not  exceeded)  her  affection. 

But  I  have  learned  another  Lesson  to  still  my  soule 
as  a  weaned  childe  &  give  offence  to  none.  .  .  . 

This  conscientious,  rather  than  impassioned,  out- 
pouring was  succeeded  shortly  by  the  following 
expression  of  somewhat  conscious  rectitude,  and 
Christian  resignation: 

Madame  : 

.  .  .  I  doubt  not  but  your  good  wisdome  &  love  have 
fairely  interpreted  my  carriage  in  the  late  treatie,  I  allso 
trust,  quieted  &  still'd  the  loving  affections  of  your 
worthy  niece.  We  hope  to  live  togeather  in  the  heavens 
though  the  Lord  have  denied  that  union  on  Earth. 


"Planter  and  Plantation        7 

So  closed  another  "romance  of  a  poor  young  man." 
There  may  well  be  truth  in  the  tradition  that  Roger 
Williams  studied  law  immediately  after  leaving  the 
university,  as  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  for  a  youth 
of  his  ability,  backed  by  so  powerful  a  patron  as  Sir 
Edward  Coke,  the  profession  of  law  gave  ample  as- 
surance of  a  successful  and  honorable  career.  Indeed 
—  so  the  tradition  runs  —  his  legal  studies  were  act- 
ually begun,  but  his  true  interest  and  enthusiasm  led 
him  in  another  direction.  "From  my  childhood," 
he  says,  "  the  father  of  lights  and  mercies  touched  my 
soul  with  a  love  for  himself."  His  marked  ability, 
backed,  it  may  be,  by  a  bit  of  family  interest,  opened 
before  him  the  path  of  clerical  preferment,  as  is 
shown  by  his  own  statement  in  his  letter  to  Lady 
Barrington.  Conscientious  scruples,  however,  kept 
him  from  accepting  the  forms,  ceremonies,  and  doc- 
trines which  made  up  the  unifying  system  of  the  An- 
glican Church  as  applied  by  the  Bishop  of  London. 
He  "durst  not  join  with  them  in  their  use  of  Com- 
mon Prayer."  "God  knows,"  he  writes  at  a  later 
time,  "what  gains  and  preferments  I  have  refused  in 
universities,  city,  country,  and  court  in  Old  England 
and  something  in  New  England  ...  to  keep  my 
soul  undefiled  in  this  point  not  to  act  with  a  doubt- 
ing conscience."  Few  details  remain  to  us  of  those 
years  of  heart-searching.  Whether  or  not  Roger  had 
the  sympathy  of  his  family  is  an  open  question.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  his  father,  a  London  trades- 


8    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

man  of  that  class  most  affected  by  the  new  ideas, 
would  appreciate  and  honor  his  son's  position. 

The  "aged  mother,"  who  in  1629  was  "close, 
and  would  not  promise  "  respecting  her  son's  worldly 
prospects,  died  in  1634,  leaving  behind  her  a  credit- 
able stock  of  this  world's  goods.  Roger's  share  was 
not  munificent,  and  by  no  means  fulfilled  his  expect- 
ations. *'  To  my  son,  Roger  Williams,  now  beyond 
the  seas,"  was  left  "ten  pounds  yearly  to  be  paid  unto 
him  ...  for  and  during  the  term  of  twenty  years." 

At  the  time  of  his  mother's  death,  in  1634,  her  son 
Roger  had  been  "beyond  the  seas"  for  full  four  years. 
More  than  a  year  and  a  half  had  passed  since  his  ex- 
pression of  resignation  and  of  the  hope  of  heavenly 
joys  was  sent  to  Lady  Barrington,  when,  on  Decem- 
ber I,  1630,  he  took  ship  at  Bristol  for  America;  and 
with  him  went  Mary,  his  wife.  All  that  has  been 
learned  respecting  the  woman  who  shared  Roger 
Williams's  life  of  privation  and  struggle  for  more 
than  forty-five  years  is  that  her  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Barnard.  Her  family,  her  English  home,  and 
the  incidents  of  her  first  acquaintance  with  her  hus- 
band, are  alike  unknown. 

Roger  Williams  himself  refers  to  the  unifying  zeal 
of  Laud  as  the  immediate  cause  of  his  departure.  "It 
was  as  bitter  as  death  tome,"  he  wrote  to  the  daughter 
of  his  patron.  Sir  Edward  Coke,  "when  Bishop  Laud 
pursued  me  out  of  this  land,  and  my  conscience  was 
persuaded  against  the  national  Church,  and  cere- 


"Planter  and  "Plantation        9 

monies,  and  bishops,  beyond  the  conscience  of  your 
dear  father." 

When  the  good  ship  I.yon  entered  the  port  of  Sa- 
lem, early  in  February,  1631,  after  a  tempestuous 
voyage  of  some  sixty-five  days,  Roger  Williams  and 
Mary,  his  wife,  received  an  honorable  welcome. 
Williams  was  himself  known  personally  to  some  influ- 
ential members  of  the  little  settlement,  and  by  reput- 
ation to  many  of  them.  His  arrival  was  commented 
on  as  that  of  a  "godly  minister,"  and  he  was  at  once 
invited  to  fill  the  place  of  teacher  to  the  church  in 
Boston,  in  the  absence  of  John  Wilson,  who  was  about 
to  sail  for  England  by  the  Lyoriy  on  her  return  voyage. 
This  offer  was  refused  by  the  young  preacher,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Boston  church  had  not  formally 
withdrawn  from  the  communion  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  that  his  conscience  would  not  permit 
him  to  countenance  the  manifold  errors  of  that  insti- 
tution by  ministering  to  one  of  its  members.  And 
this  was  but  the  initial  step  in  a  long  career  of  theo- 
logical knight-errantry.  The  young  and  ardent  en- 
thusiast levelled  his  gospel-spear  at  each  and  every 
error  in  theory  or  practice  of  which  —  judged  by  his 
standards  —  the  Puritan  theocracy  of  Massachusetts 
stood  convicted.  Conformity  was  the  monster  he 
had  fled  from  England  to  avoid,  and  it  was  with  un- 
bounded amazement  and  indignation  that  he  saw  re- 
vealed in  New  England  a  uniformity  as  unyielding 
and  all-embracing  as  that  of  Laud. 


lo    ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

His  few  months  of  residence  in  Salem,  in  the  spring 
and  summer  of  163 1,  were  enlivened  by  his  emphatic 
assertion  that  the  civil  magistrate  had  no  moral  right 
to  punish  infractions  of  the  First  Table  of  the  Deca- 
logue (namely,  the  first  four  of  the  Ten  Command- 
ments) ;  and  also  by  his  persistent  reiteration  of  the 
contention  that,  by  not  formally  separating  from  the 
Church  of  England,  the  churches  of  New  England 
were  conniving  at  error,  and  compromising  with  Anti- 
Christ.  Before  the  summer  was  ended,  he  had  re- 
moved to  Plymouth,  where  the  theological  atmo- 
sphere was  a  trifle  less  bleak;  and  there  for  two  years 
he  abode  as  teacher,  diversifying  his  ministrations  to 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  by  a  brisk  discussion  of  the  theme 
that  ''Christian  Kings  (so-called)  are  invested  with 
a  right,  by  virtue  of  their  Christianity,  to  take  and 
give  away  the  lands  and  countries  of  other  men/* 
This  proposition,  as  interpreted  by  Williams,  led  to  a 
denial  of  the  validity  of  the  royal  land  grants,  and 
the  assertion  that  an  equitable  title  to  the  land  could 
only  be  obtained  from  its  rightful  owners,  the  Indians. 

These  years  are  also  memorable,  in  the  record  of 
Roger  Williams's  experiences,  for  his  missionary  work 
among  the  Indians.  ''God  was  pleased  to  give  me," 
he  tells  us,  "a  painful  patient  spirit  to  lodge  with 
them  in  their  filthy  smoke-holes  ...  to  gain  their 
tongue,"  and  he  "dug  into  their  barbarous  rockie 
speech  "  to  such  good  purpose  that  we  are  told  by  a 
Massachusetts  writer  of  1634  that  he  "hath  spent 


Roger  Williams  House  at  Salem 

From  a  drawing  in  Edwin  Whitefield's  Homes   of  our 
Forefathers  in  Massachusetts,  1880. 


1/3 J a2    TA   32UoII  i.ADO^ 


^Planter  and  ^Plantation       1 1 

much  time  in  attaining  to  their  language  wherein  he 
is  so  good  a  proficient  that  he  can  speak  to  their  un- 
derstanding, and  they  to  his ;  much  loving  and  re- 
specting him  for  his  love  and  counsell."  This  friend- 
ship stood  him  in  good  stead,  for  by  its  aid  he  was 
able  —  when  driven  from  his  home  by  the  fury  of  the 
long-gathering  storm  —  to  obtain  from  Canonicus, 
"the  old  high  Sachem  of  the  Narragansett  Bay,"  and 
his  nephew  and  heir,  Miantonomi,  a  grant  of  land  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  the  Massachusetts  patent. 

In  1633,  Roger  Williams  found  himself  once  more 
in  Salem,  installed  there  as  assistant  to  Mr.  Skelton 
of  the  church  of  that  town.  He  left  behind  him  in 
Plymouth  the  reputation  of  "a  man  godly  and  zeal- 
ous, having  many  precious  parts,  but  very  unsettled 
in  judgement  .  .  .  he  is  to  be  pitied,  and  prayed  for, 
and  so  I  shall  .  .  .  desire  the  Lord  to  shew  him  his 
errors,  and  reduce  him  in  the  way  of  truth,  and  give 
him  a  settled  judgement  and  constancy  in  the  same." 
The  words  are  those  of  Governor  Bradford.  Skelton 
died  during  the  year,  and  Williams  was  invited  to  be- 
come teacher  (or  expounder  of  doctrine)  of  the  church, 
in  his  place.  The  arena  w^as  now  clear,  and  the  an- 
tagonists on  both  sides  were  eager  for  the  chance  to 
combat  error  with  the  invincible  arm  of  truth.  Issue 
was  first  taken  at  the  practice  of  the  clergy  of  the 
neighborhood  in  holding  regular  meetings,  as  tend- 
ing to  establish  a  '*  superintendency  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  church's  liberties."  The  question  of  the  land 


1 2    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

patents  was  again  brought  forward.  Once  more 
Williams  maintained  that  "all  men  may  walk  as 
their  consciences  persuade  them,  every  one  in  the 
name  of  his  God."  Carrying  out  this  line  of  thought, 
he  at  length  contended  that  no  unregenerate  person 
should  have  an  oath  administered  to  him,  since  an 
oath  was  an  act  of  worship,  and  "persons  may  as 
well  be  forced  unto  any  part  of  the  worship  of  God 
as  unto  this." 

Mere  considerations  of  expediency,  of  a  time  to 
speak,  and  a  time  to  keep  silent,  were  for  Roger 
Williams  as  if  non-existent.  Having  hitched  his  wa- 
gon to  the  star  of  truth,  he  followed  his  beacon-light 
with  that  uncompromising  zeal  and  sublime  disre- 
gard of  mere  material  obstacles  which  so  often  char- 
acterizes the  reformer.  But  for  the  magistrates  of 
the  Bay  Colony  the  matter  was  not  one  to  be  ap- 
proached from  a  purely  theoretical,  or  even  theolog- 
ical, point  of  view,  although  on  either  of  these  indict- 
ments they  would  have  found  plenty  of  matter  for 
condemnation  in  Williams's  course  of  action.  Mr. 
Richman  has  shown  his  fairness  and  discrimination 
in  pointing  out  that,  at  the  moment  when  Williams 
renewed  his  attack  on  the  royal  patent,  the  magis- 
trates were  deeply  concerned  over  news  from  Eng- 
land to  the  effect  that  the  King  was  considering  the 
feasibility  of  sending  out  a  general  governor  for  the 
colonies,  and  recalling  their  patents,  —  and  the  re- 
call of  the  patent  meant  the  loss  of  all  the  Puritan 


Tlanter  and  Plantation      1 3 

colony  held  dear.  When  Roger  Williams  was  fulmin- 
ating against  the  administration  of  oaths,  these  same 
perplexed  magistrates  were  administering  a  special 
oath  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  loyalty  of  the  free- 
men to  the  theocracy  which  had  been  set  up. 

The  final  break,  however,  came  in  this  wise:  the 
town  of  Salem  petitioned  the  General  Court  of  the 
colony  with  respect  to  a  land  claim.  The  petition 
came  up  for  consideration,  in  due  course,  and  was  re- 
fused on  the  ground  that  the  Salem  church  "had 
chosen  Mr.  Williams  their  teacher  while  he  had  stood 
under  question  of  authority,  and  offered  contempt 
to  the  magistrates."  The  church  in  Salem  appealed 
in  vain  to  the  other  churches  of  the  Bay  Colony; 
whereupon  Williams  called  on  it  to  withdraw  from 
the  others,  and  when  the  church  refused  to  take  this 
extreme  step,  he  himself  promptly  withdrew  from 
that  and  all  of  the  Bay  communions.  He  even  car- 
ried his  zeal  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  pray  with  his  wife, 
or  to  ask  a  blessing  on  the  table  at  which  she  sat, 
because  she  had  refused  to  withdraw  from  the  church 
communion.  It  is  small  wonder  that  to  the  "lords 
brethren"  of  the  Bay,  Roger  Williams  appeared 
an  incorrigible  offender.  To  them  he  was  obstinate, 
wrongheaded,  and  purposely  persistent  in  the  effort 
to  disturb  all  law  and  order.  To  their  minds  even  to 
the  third  generation,  he  figured  as  the  prototype  of 
disaffection.  Sixty  years  later,  Cotton  Mather  wrote 
of  him:  "In  the  year  1654  a  certain  wind-mill  in  the 


14   Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

Low  Countries,  whirling  around  with  extraordinary- 
violence  by  reason  of  a  violent  storm  then  blowing, 
the  stone  at  length  by  its  rapid  motion  became  so  in- 
tensely hot  as  to  fire  the  mill,  from  whence  the  flames 
being  dispersed  by  the  high  winds,  did  set  a  whole 
town  on  fire.  But  I  can  tell  my  reader  that  above 
twenty  years  before  this  there  was  a  whole  country 
in  America  like  to  be  set  on  fire  by  the  rapid  motion 
of  a  wind-mill  in  the  head  of  one  particular  man/' 

The  matter  was  brought  to  a  close  on  October  g, 
1635,  when  the  General  Court  sentenced  Williams 
"to  depart  out  of  our  jurisdiction  within  six  weeks.'* 
An  illness,  and  the  near  approach  of  winter,  led  to 
a  commutation  of  the  sentence,  so  far  as  to  permit 
Williams  to  stay  in  Salem  until  spring.  Whatever  his 
plans  for  the  future  may  have  been,  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  if  he  ever  intended  "  to  erect  a  plantation 
about  the  Narragansett  Bay."  His  own  statement  is 
that  he  sought  a  refuge  among  the  Indians  "to  do 
them  good,"  and  that  he  "  desired  to  be  without  Eng- 
lish company."  In  the  mean  time  he  improved  the 
opportunity  "to  do  good"  to  the  good  people  of 
Salem  with  such  diligence  that  many  "were  taken 
with  an  apprehension  of  his  godliness,"  and  the  mat- 
ter was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  General  Court. 
This  formidable  body  came  promptly  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  time  for  parleying  was  past,  and  forth- 
with summoned  the  offender  to  appear  before  them, 
in  Boston.  Even  before  the  citation  was  brought  to 


'Planter  and  Plantation      1 5 

Salem,  news  had  reached  WilHams  of  a  plan  to  send 
him  to  England.  A  few  hurried  preparations  were 
made,  and  with  his  servant,  Thomas  Angell,  the  in- 
trepid pioneer  took  his  way  through  the  January 
snows  and  frosts  to  his  friends,  the  Narraganset  In- 
dians. *'  I  was  sorely  tossed,"  he  says,  "  for  one  four- 
teen weeks,  in  a  bitter  winter  season,  not  knowing 
what  bread  or  bed  did  mean,  beside  the  yearly  loss  of 
no  small  matter  in  my  trading  with  the  English  and 
natives,  being  debarred  from  Boston,  the  chief  mart 
and  port  of  New  England." 

His  departure  was  resolved  upon  none  too  quickly. 
Three  days  later,  the  doughty  Captain  John  Under- 
bill arrived  in  Salem  Harbor  with  a  warrant  from  the 
General  Court  for  the  apprehension  of  Roger  Will- 
iams. Once  on  board  the  little  vessel,  only  awaiting 
the  arrival  of  her  passenger  before  spreading  her 
white  wings  to  take  flight  for  the  other  side  of  the  At- 
lantic, it  would  have  been  many  a  long  day  before 
the  troublesome  schismatic  could  again  disturb  the 
established  order  of  the  Lord's  anointed.  His  ban- 
ishment not  only  put  Salem  ''in  an  uproar,"  where 
*'he  was  esteemed  an  honest,  disinterested  man,  and 
of  popular  talents  in  the  pulpit";  but  even  in  Eng- 
land, those  interested  in  the  colony's  welfare  deplored 
his  loss.  Sir  William  Martin  wrote  to  Governor  Win- 
throp:  "I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  Mr.  Williams's  separ- 
ation from  you.  ...  I  pray  show  him  what  lawful 
favor  you  can,  which  may  stand  with  the  common 


1 6    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

good.  He  is  passionate  and  precipitate,  which  may 
transport  him  into  error,  but  I  hope  his  integrity  and 
good  intentions  will  bring  him  at  last  into  the  way  of 
truth,  and  confirm  him  therein." 

From  Roger  Williams's  own  pen  we  have  a  graphic, 
if  all  too  meagre,  account  of  his  wanderings,  and  his 
hopes  and  fears  for  the  future.  He  says:  ''When  I 
was  unkindly  and  unchristianly,  as  I  believe,  driven 
from  my  house,  and  land  and  wife  and  children,  in 
the  midst  of  a  New  England  winter,  ...  at  Salem 
...  I  steered  my  course  .  .  .  though  in  winter 
snow,  which  I  feel  yet,  unto  these  parts.  .  .  .  It  is  not 
true  that  I  was  employed  by  any,  made  covenant 
with  any,  or  desired  any  to  come  with  me.  .  .  .  My 
soul's  desire  was  to  do  the  natives  good,  and  to  that 
end  have  their  language  .  .  .  and  therefore  desired 
not  to  be  troubled  with  English  company,  yet  out  of 
Pity,  I  gave  leave  to  W.  Harris,  then  poor  and  desti- 
tute, to  come  along  in  my  company,  I  consented  to 
John  Smith,  Miller,  at  Dorchester  (banished  also)  to 
go  with  me,  and  at  John  Smith's  desire,  to  a  poor 
young  fellow,  Francis  Wicks,  as  also  to  a  lad  of  Rich- 
ard Watermans."  To  these  must  be  added  the  name 
of  Joshua  Verin,  making  six  in  all. 

"I  first  pitched  and  began  to  build  and  plant  at 
Seekonk,  now  Rehoboth  [Massachusetts];  but  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  my  ancient  friend  Mr.  Winslow, 
then  Governor  of  Plymouth,  professing  his  own  and 
others'  love  and  respect  to  me,  yet  lovingly  advising 


Compass  and  Sun-dial 

Owned  by  Roger  Williams  and  presumably  used  by  him 
on  his  journey  into  exile  in  1635.  Its  Hne  of  descent  has 
been  traced  from  Roger  Williams  to  its  present  custodian, 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


mi"   "-^  '■'-■^'-  ..uilliWiago^I  yd  baxiv/O 

26 1 '  I  ni  altza  oini  vamuo},  eiri  no 


Vlanter  and  Plantation      1 7 

me,  since  I  was  fallen  into  the  edge  of  their  bounds 
[namely,  those  of  the  Plymouth  Colony],  and  they 
were  loth  to  displease  the  Bay  [Colony],  to  remove 
to  the  other  side  of  the  water,  and  then  he  said  I  had 
the  country  free  before  me,  and  might  be  as  free  as 
themselves,  and  we  should  be  loving  neighbors  to- 
gether." 

It  was,  accordingly,  from  the  Seekonk  shore  that 
the  little  canoe  bearing  Roger  Williams  and  his  com- 
panions pushed  out  into  the  wide  stream,  and  crossed 
to  "Mooshassuc,"  —  the  name  given  by  the  Indians 
to  the  peninsula  between  the  Seekonk  and  Moshas- 
suc  Rivers,  whereon  a  goodly  portion  of  the  city  of 
Providence  now  stands.  The  friendly  hail  of  the  In- 
dians, "Whatcheer,  Netop!"  came  (so  tradition  tells 
us)  from  Slate  Rock,  which  the  venerable  Moses 
Brown,  writing  in  1828,  describes  as  ''jutting  out  into 
the  river."  The  so-called  Slate  Rock  of  the  present 
generation  has  long  been  high  above  tide-water,  and 
now  lies  buried  under  the  earth  recently  filled  in  to 
form  Roger  Williams  Square.  Having  closed  the  in- 
terview with  the  Indians,  and  thereby  unconsciously 
provided  a  title  for  every  species  of  public  and 
private  enterprise  in  which  their  descendants  might 
choose  to  engage,  from  Whatcheer  Insurance  Com- 
panies to  the  manufacture  of  Whatcheer  Laundry 
Soap,  the  little  company  of  pioneers  held  cheerfully 
on  their  way.  They  rounded  the  hill  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  peninsula,  —  now  levelled  and  known  as 


1 8    Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

Fox  Point,  —  and  after  paddling  a  short  distance  up 
the  stream  of  the  Moshassuc,  landed  at  a  point  where 
a  clear  bubbling  spring  discharged  its  waters  into 
those  of  the  "Great  Salt  River." 

Such  is  the  ancient  and  honorable  tradition  of  the 
founding  of  Providence,  dating  from  a  time  when  the 
memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary.  We  are 
also  told  that  the  pioneers,  on  landing,  were  hospit- 
ably invited  to  dine  with  the  natives  "on  succotash 
and  boiled  bass,  then  cooking  over  the  fire."  As  late 
as  1801,  "there  was  a  Hving  stream  constantly  flow- 
ing from  a  large  boiling  spring,  curbed  and  covered 
with  stones,  and  overflowing  into  a  trough  for  con- 
ducting the  water  into  a  tub  formed  of  a  half-hogs- 
head set  in  the  ground  conveniently  for  cattle  to  drink 
therefrom.  Thence  the  water  continued  its  course 
to  the  river  adjacent;  so  that  in  passing  the  outlet  in 
a  boat  the  stream  was  manifest.  .  .  ."  This  descrip- 
tion was  written  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  by 
the  Honorable  Zachariah  Allen,  one  of  Providence's 
most  honored  citizens,  whose  father's  residence  was 
within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  spring  in  question. 

Roger  Williams  had  already  established  with  the 
Indians  that  friendship  and  influence  which  placed 
the  little  plantation  on  a  footing  of  security  and  per- 
manence. While  he  lived  in  Salem  and  Plymouth, 
he  "spared  no  cost  towards  them  ...  in  Gifts,  to- 
kens and  presents  .  .  .  and  therefore  when  I  came  I 
was  welcome  to  .  .  .  Canonicus,  who  was  most  shy 


Picture  of  Slate  Rock  and  Seekonk  River 

From  a  water-color  sketch  painted  by  Edward  L.  Peck- 
ham  in  1832,  now  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society^ 


loo*^f  ,  T  i{oJ3>ia  ioIo3-i9J£w  £  rnoi'i 

iH  bnuial  abodil  3flj  nt  won  ,£r8l  nt  mfiri 


'Planter  and  "Plantation      1 9 

of  all  English  to  his  last  breath."  Lands  on  the  Mo- 
shassucand  Wanasquatucket  Rivers  were  readily  ob- 
tained from  the  Narraganset  sachems.  The  deed  of 
conveyance,  signed  by  them  two  years  later,  on  March 
24,  1638,  recites  that  "in  consideration  of  many  kind- 
nesses and  services  he  [Roger  Williams]  hath  continu- 
ally done  for  us  ...  we  do  freely  give  him  all  the 
land  from  those  rivers,  reaching  to  Pawtuxet  river; 
as  also  the  Grass  and  meadows  upon  the  said  Paw- 
tuxet river."  This  last-mentioned  tract  was  an  addi- 
tion to  the  original  grant. 

The  lands  thus  designated  comprised  a  territory  of 
about  four  square  miles.  It  included  the  peninsula 
formed  by  the  Seekonk  and  Moshassuc  Rivers, 
whereon  the  East  Side  of  the  present  city  stands,  as 
far  north  as  "the  Rivers  and  Fields  of  Pautucket." 
The  Seekonk  lies  to  the  east,  and  the  Moshassuc  to 
the  west,  of  this  peninsula,  and  both  empty  into  Provi- 
dence Harbor  at  a  distance  from  each  other  of  about 
a  mile.  To  the  west  of  the  Moshassuc  is  the  Wanas- 
quatucket, which  flows  south  and  east  into  the  cove 
above  the  harbor.  The  swift  current  of  these  two 
streams,  as  they  met  in  the  shallow  cove,  had  eaten 
away  the  soft  soil  of  the  western  shore,  and  formed  a 
large  tract  of  marshland  on  that  side  of  the  river. 
Some  five  miles  to  the  south  of  Providence,  the  Paw- 
tuxet, after  a  course  of  some  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles,  flows  northeast  into  Narragansett  Bay.  The 
western  limit  of  the  original  township  was  marked  by 


2  0    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  so-called  Four  Mile  Line,  running  down  from 
Neutakonkanut  Hill,  a  short  distance  south  of  the 
Wanasquatucket  River,  to  the  point  where  the  Pa- 
chaset,  or  Pocasset,  River  enters  the  Pawtuxet,  about 
three  miles  from  its  mouth. 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  presence  of  the  freshwater 
spring  must  have  been  the  ruling  consideration  in  the 
selection  of  a  spot  "to  build  and  plant."  The  land  in 
the  vicinity  was  not  fertile,  and  the  topography  was 
poorly  adapted  for  farming.  For  some  two  miles 
along  the  east  bank  of  the  Moshassuc  a  line  of  bluffs 
rose  to  an  elevation  of  about  two  hundred  feet,  leav- 
ing but  a  narrow  margin  between  the  hillside  and 
the  water's  edge.  From  the  top  of  this  bluff  the  land 
sloped  gently  eastward  across  the  peninsula,  to  the 
Seekonk,  about  a  mile  away.  On  the  west  of  the  Mo- 
shassuc, on  Weybosset  Neck,  the  high  tide  overflowed 
large  tracts  of  marshland,  dotted  here  and  there  with 
little  islands  on  which  the  rank  marsh-grass  grew. 
Beyond  was  a  rolling  country  with  a  sandy  soil, 
whose  low  hills  were  covered  with  pines. 

Roger  Williams  was  at  all  times  an  Indian  trader, 
as  well  as  an  Indian  missionary,  and  doubtless  the 
ease  with  which  his  new  station  at  the  juncture  of 
three  rivers  could  be  reached,  no  less  than  its  "free- 
dom and  vacancy,"  commended  the  place  to  him. 
The  plantation  was  also  rendered  easy  of  access  from 
the  fact  that  it  lay  directly  on  the  great  Indian  thor- 
oughfare known  as  the  "  Pequod  Path,"  which  was  to 


Vlanter  and  Plantation      2 1 

serve  the  colonists  as  the  main  highway  of  travel  and 
communication  for  many  a  long  year  to  come,  and  is 
still  known  to  their  descendants  as  the  "  Shore-Line 
Railroad."  Crossing  the  Seekonk  about  a  mile  above 
its  mouth,  the  trail  led  westward  to  the  Moshassuc, 
forded  that  river,  and  then  struck  south  to  Wick- 
ford,  the  "Cawcawmsqussick"  of  Roger  Williams.  It 
skirted  the  heights  above  the  Pettiquamscutt  River, 
some  three  miles  inland  from  the  west  shore  of  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  to  Sugar  Loaf  Hill;  there  it  bore  to  the 
southwest,  and  led  to  Pawcatuck,  the  headquarters 
of  the  sachem  Ninigret,  and  the  present  city  of  Wes- 
terly. Doubtless  Roger  Williams  spoke  the  literal 
truth  when  he  asserted  that  Canonicus  "was  not  to 
be  stirred  with  money  to  sell  his  Lands  to  let  in  for- 
eigners. Tis  true  he  received  presents  and  gratuities 
many  of  me,  but,  .  .  .  Thousands  could  not  have 
bought  of  him  Providence  or  Pawtuxet  ...  or  any 
other  land  I  had  of  him."  Nor  could  thousands  have 
secured  that  "loving  and  peaceable  neighborhood 
with  them  all,"  which  exempted  the  Providence  Plan- 
tation from  Indian  raids,  —  the  most  constant  and 
terrible  danger  that  threatened  the  colonial  pioneer. 
The  summer  of  1636  saw  the  little  community  set- 
tled into  a  routine  of  everyday  life.  "Having  in  a 
sense  of  God's  mercifull  providence  unto  me  in  my 
distresse  called  the  place  Providence,  I  desired  it 
might  be  for  a  shelter  for  persons  distressed  of  con- 
science," declared  its  founder.  "We  have  no  Patent," 


2  2   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

he  writes  to  his  friend  Winthrop,  probably  in  August 
or  September  of  that  year,  "nor  doth  the  face  of  Ma- 
gistracy suit  with  our  present  condition.  Hitherto,  the 
masters  of  famihes  have  ordinarily  met  once  a  fort- 
night and  consulted  about  our  common  peace,  watch, 
and  with  mutual  consent  have  finished  all  matters 
with  speed  and  peace." 

Soon,  however,  others,  "  some  young  men,  single 
persons,"  of  whom  there  was  "much  need,"  came  to 
the  new  plantation,  and  very  naturally  their  enthu- 
siasm for  mission  work  among  the  Indians,  and  for 
sheltering  those  "distressed  of  conscience,"  speedily 
became  subordinate  to  the  desire  to  reap  where  they 
had  sown,  to  gather  into  barns,  and  to  own  the  lands 
which  they  had  painfully  cleared.  This  contingent 
among  the  settlers  found  in  William  Harris,  who  had 
crossed  the  Seekonk  "poor  and  destitute,"  a  leader 
ready  to  their  hand.  He  it  was  who,  "  pretending  Re- 
ligion, wearied  me  with  desires,"  writes  Roger  Wil- 
liams, "that  I  should  admit  him  and  others  into  fel- 
lowship of  my  purchase.  I  yielded  and  agreed  that 
the  place  should  be  for  such  as  were  destitute  (espe- 
cially for  Conscience  Sake)."  It  was  in  accordance 
with  this  resolution  that,  in  October,  1638,  Williams 
executed  to  twelve  persons,  including  William  Harris, 
a  conveyance  of  the  land  received  from  the  sachems, 
"unto  my  loving  friends  and  neighbors,  .  .  .  and 
such  others  as  the  major  part  of  us  shall  admit  into 
the  same  fellowship  of  vote  with  us."  Each  of  these 


Vlanter  and  Vlantation      2  3 

twelve  *' first-comers "  paid  thirty  shillings  "towards 
a  town  stock,"  and  it  was  further  agreed  that  Roger 
Williams  should  have  thirty  pounds  as  a  "  loving  con- 
sideration and  gratuitye"  for  his  "great  charge  and 
travell"  in  the  matter.  Of  this  he  received  ";^28  in 
broken  parcels  in  five  years." 

The  land  being  conveyed  to  the  "fellowship,"  it 
was  parcelled  out  to  the  original  grantees  and  those 
whom  they  voted  to  admit  to  the  body  of  "proprie- 
tors," fifty-two  in  all.  The  later  settlers  received  as 
proprietors  also  paid  thirty  shillings,  which  "went  to 
a  town  and  public  use."  A  road,  or  "Street,"  was 
laid  out  for  about  two  miles  along  the  east  shore  of 
the  Moshassuc,  the  Great  Salt  River.  The  land  abut- 
ting on  this  future  thoroughfare  (the  present  North 
and  South  Main  Streets)  was  then  laid  out  in  fifty- 
two  long  narrow  lots,  called  home  lots,  or  house  lots, 
of  approximately  five  acres  each.  These  ran  back  to 
the  present  Hope  Street,  then  and  long  afterward 
known  as  "the  highway,"  or  "the  highway  at  the 
head  of  the  lots."  Each  proprietor  had  also,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  home  lot,  a  six-acre  lot  for  planting.  This 
might  be  either  on  the  east  side  of  "the  Neck"  —  as 
the  peninsula  between  the  Moshassuc  and  the  See- 
konk  was  called  —  or  to  the  west  of  the  Great  Salt 
River.  Lots  of  varying  size  were  also  apportioned 
from  the  "lands and  meddowes  onWaubossettSide," 
west  of  the  Moshassuc  River.  To  the  south  of  these 
lots,  or  farms,  lay  the  meadows  along  the  Pawtuxet 


2  4    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

and  Pachaset  Rivers  known  as  the  "  Pawtuxet  Pur- 
chase." The  division  was  made  with  the  apparent 
object  of  securing  to  each  proprietor  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  of  approximately  equal  value.  Each 
householder  was  in  this  way  provided  with  a  home 
lot,  a  farm  for  planting,  meadow  or  pasture  land  for 
his  cattle,  and  a  tract  or  tracts  of  woodland.  De- 
signated tracts  of  land  were  held  "in  common/'  in 
accordance  with  the  custom  of  every  English  village, 
and,  as  in  England,  each  man  had  his  rights  as  a  towns- 
man to  pasture  and  firewood  from  the  common  lands. 
We  may  well  believe  that  "the  Streete"  already 
spoken  of  was  little  more  than  a  partially  cleared 
pathway,  along  the  line  of  which  were  marked  at  as- 
signed intervals  the  bounds  of  the  home  lots.  Soon, 
however,  rude  yet  substantial  dwellings  were  put  up 
at  different  points  along  the  line  of  the  shore,  and  by 
1640  life  on  theTowne  Street  had  developed  to  such 
an  extent  that  civic  and  religious  centres  of  common 
interest  began  to  appear.  It  was  in  that  year  that, 
in  view  of  "  the  many  differences  amongst  us,"  four 
worthy  townsmen  were  selected  by  their  "loving 
friends  and  neighbors  "  "  to  weigh  &  consider  all  these 
differences,  being  desirous  to  bring  [them]  to  unity 
and  peace,"  and  after  due  deliberation  they  reported 
that  they  apprehended  "noway  so  suitable  to  our 
Condition  as  government  by  way  of  arbitration." 
The  adjustment  of  differing  opinions,  as  well  as  of 
land  dividends,  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  five  arbitra- 


Drawm  bv  A.L.Bopweut- t9l' 


Tax  List  I65o 
Town   P/^pe.ps  o39 

Provideince,  R.  I 


o 


"Planter  and  Plantation      2  5 

tors,  or  "disposers."  These  were  to  "meete  every 
month-day  uppon  General  things,"  and  to  hold  of- 
fice for  three  months.  Town-meetings  were  to  be 
held  "every  quarter,"  but  should  a  case  arise  admit- 
ting no  delay,  a  special  meeting  might  be  called. 
"Any  party  delinquent"  was  to  be  apprehended  by 
the  combined  efforts  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  who 
were  bound  to  assist  the  cause  of  justice  with  their 
"best  endeavours  to  attack  him."  Toleration  in  re- 
ligious matters  was  reaffirmed:  "wee  agree,  as  for- 
merly hath  bin  the  liberties  of  the  town,  so  still,  to 
hould  forth  liberty  of  Conscience."  These  funda- 
mental points,  and  certain  details  of  the  town  admin- 
istration, were  presented  by  the  committee,  "as  our 
absolute  determination,  laying  ourselves  down  as 
subjects  to  it,"  and  a  list  of  thirty-nine  signatures, 
accepting  this  "determination,"  follows  the  closing 
words. 

The  only  common  religious  interest  held  by  the 
first  comers  was,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  the  ob- 
ligation resting  on  each  to  walk  in  the  path  of  truth 
as  his  conscience  should  "persuade"  him.  Such  an 
obligation  might,  or  might  not,  work  for  concord  and 
good-will.  It  certainly  would  not  appear  to  be  an  im- 
pelling force  toward  church  organization.  It  so  hap- 
pened, however,  that  in  1637  a  certain  Mrs.  Richard 
Scott  arrived  in  town.  Mrs.  Scott  was  the  wife  of  a 
Boston  shoemaker,  whose  religious  principles  so  far 
differed  from  those  prevalent  in  the  Bay  Colony  that 


2  6   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

he  had  betaken  himself  to  the  Providence  Plantation, 
where  he  was  assigned  a  home  lot,  and  became  a  well- 
to-do  citizen.  Nor  was  this  the  only  item  of  interest 
respecting  the  lady's  family  connections.  She  was  a 
sister  of  the  famous  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  whose 
"weekly  religious  reviews"  had  so  sorely  racked  the 
theological  world  of  Boston  but  a  short  time  before. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  Mrs.  Scott  possessed  some- 
thing of  her  sister's  ''active spirit"  and  "very  voluble 
tongue."  At  all  events,  she  is  said  to  have  been  "in- 
fested with  Anabaptistry  and  ...  to  have  embold- 
ened" no  less  a  person  than  Roger  Williams  "to 
make  open  profession  thereof."  He  accordingly,  so 
runs  the  narrative,  "was  rebaptized  by  one  Holy 
man,  a  poor  man  late  of  Salem,"  but  now  (1638)  a  re- 
spected proprietor  in  the  town  of  Providence,  where 
he  was  regarded  as  "a  man  of  gifts  and  piety." 
Roger  Williams,  after  receiving  the  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism at  the  hands  of  Ezekiel  Holliman,  "re-baptised 
him  and  some  ten  more." 

It  was  not  Mrs.  Scott,  however,  who  could  claim  to 
be  the  pioneer  in  that  field  of  action  known  to  us  of 
the  present  day  as  the  "Higher  Education  of  Wo- 
man." Even  before  her  eloquence  was  exerted  to  elu- 
cidate the  "Anabaptist"  point  of  view  as  to  certain 
perplexing  theological  questions,  "the  Devil  was  not 
idle,"  —  if  we  may  quote  the  incisive  words  of  Win- 
throp.  That  estimable  man  proceeds  to  relate  that 
"at  Providence  .  .  .  men's  wives  and  children  claim- 


'Planter  and  "Plantation      2  7 

ing  to  go  to  all  religious  meetings,  tho'  never  so  often, 
or  .  .  .  upon  week  days ;  and  because  one  Verin  re- 
fused to  let  his  wife  go  to  Mr.  Williams  so  often  as  she 
was  called  for,  they  require  to  have  him  censured." 
And  censured  he  was,  by  a  formal  vote  of  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  at  the  conclusion  of  a  spirited  debate  on 
jiberty  of  conscience  versus  the  scriptural  injunction 
to  wives,  to  obey  their  husbands.  The  general  sense 
of  the  community  seemed  to  be  that  it  was,  to  say  the 
least,  inexpedient  to  "restrain  their  wives."  There 
is  reason  to  think  that  the  Joshua  Verin  in  question 
did  not  enjoy  an  unqualified  reputation  for  discre- 
tion, or  for  piety.  He  is  described  by  Williams  as  "a 
young  man  boisterous  and  desperate,  who  refused  to 
hear  the  word  with  us,"  and  his  treatment  of  his  wife 
was  such  that  "she  went  in  danger  of  her  life."  This 
turbulent  pioneer  shortly  withdrew  from  the  Provi- 
dence Plantation  and  returned  to  Salem,  "  clamoring 
for  justice." 

We  are  told  that  the  little  group  of  worshippers  "  in 
the  Baptist  Way"  were  joined  by  "many  of  the  com- 
pany." Roger  Williams  himself  did  not  remain  long 
a  member  of  the  communion.  The  limitations  of  any 
creed  were  irksome  to  his  temperament,  and  also  to 
the  severely  logical  bent  of  his  intellect.  "  He  set  up  a 
Way  of  Seeking,  by  way  of  preaching  and  Praying," 
wrote  his  old  neighbor,  Richard  Scott,  many  years 
later.  Scott,  and  his  eloquent  wife  also,  had  joined 
the  Quakers,  whose  practice  as  well  as  their  precepts 


2  8    Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

were  truly  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  Roger  Will- 
iams. The  versatile  Mrs.  Scott  found  good  reasons 
for  changing  her  religious  creed  once  more  before  her 
death,  but  her  husband  held  fast  by  the  teaching  of 
George  Fox,  and  died,  some  forty-five  years  later,  in 
the  odor  of  Quaker  sanctity. 

Other,  and  more  immediately  practical,  quesdons 
than  those  of  infant  baptism  and  close  communion 
forced  themselves  on  the  attention  of  the  early  set- 
tlers. "The  discusser's  time  hath  not  been  spent  al- 
together in  spiritual  labors  and  public  exercises  of  the 
word,"  says  Roger  Williams,  *'  but  day  and  night,  at 
home  and  abroad,  on  land  and  water,  at  the  hoe  and 
at  the  oar,  for  bread."  In  the  summer  of  1636,  his 
wife  with  their  two  baby  girls  had  joined  him.  The 
older,  Mary,  was  not  yet  three,  and  little  Freeborn 
hardly  six  months.  His  oldest  son,  born  in  1638,  was 
called  Providence,  in  honor  of  the  new  settlement. 
The  difficulty  with  which  the  householders  provided 
security  and  some  small  measure  of  comfort  for  their 
families  is  the  dominating  thought  awakened  by  the 
perusal  of  such  scanty  records  as  are  left  us  of  these 
early  days.  Roger  Williams  writes  to  Winthrop  in 
the  September  of  1638:  ''Sir,  my  wife  (together  with 
her  best  respects,  to  Mrs.  Winthrop) ,  requests  her  ac- 
ceptance of  an  handfull  of  chesnuts,  intending  her 
(if  Mrs.Winthrop  love  them)  a  bigger  basket  of  them 
at  the  return  of  [the  messenger]."  The  despatch  of  a 
handful  of  chestnuts  from  Providence  to  Boston,  by 


Vlanter  and  Plantation      2  9 

way  of  a  complimentary  present,  suggests  a  poverty 
which  may  serve  to  enlighten  us  as  to  the  reasons  for 
Roger  Williams's  great  anxiety  respecting  the  fate  of 
his  worldly  goods,  left  behind  in  Salem.  "A  heifer 
.  .  .  and  the  increase  of  her;  upwards  of  four  score 
weight  of  tobacco;  above  8/.  for  three  goats  due  me 
when  they  were  two  years  since,  about  4/.  a  goat;  an 
house  watch;  and  another  new  gown  of  my  wives, 
new  come  forth  of  England,  and  cost  between  40 
and  50  shillings,"  would  have  been  no  mean  addition 
to  the  resources  of  the  pioneer  home  at  Providence 
Plantation,  in  the  year  of  grace,  1637. 

In  these  early  years  supplies  came  chiefly  from  the 
Bay  Colony  and  Plymouth,  when  they  came  at  all. 
The  distance  was  great,  and  the  journey  painfully 
made  overland.  Save  for  an  occasional  pinnace,  we 
read  of  no  seagoing  craft  more  staunch  than  a  canoe ; 
and  although  the  intrepid  Roger  Williams  tells  of 
"cutting  through  a  stormy  wind,  with  great  seas,"  in 
this  frail  boat,  in  the  urgency  of  his  errand  to  the  Pe- 
quod  Indians,  it  is  probable  that  freight  was  sent  by  the 
slower  and  safer  land  route.  Doubtless  small  com- 
missions were  despatched  by  a  woodsman,  sometimes 
by  an  Indian.  More  bulky  articles  were  shipped  to 
Newport,  or  came  through  Rehoboth.  *'T  is  true  I 
may  hire  an  Indian  "  (i.e.,  as  messenger) ,  Roger  Will- 
iams allows,  "yet  not  always,  not  sure,  for  these 
two  things  I  have  found  in  them;  sometimes  long 
keeping  of  a  letter;  secondly,  if  a  fear  take  them  that 


30   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  letter  concerns  themselves  they  suppress  it."  He 
sends  to  his  Boston  friends  for  such  articles  as  **  medi- 
cine suitable  to  these  Indian  bodies,  also  some  draw- 
ing plaster,  &  if  the  charge  rise  to  one  or  two  crowns," 
he  will  '*  thankfully  pay  it."  His  Indian  corn,  he 
says,  will  be  disposed  of  to  the  Boston  merchants,  or 
to  those  of  Seekonk.  The  price  quoted  in  1647  i^  ^^^^^ 
shillings  a  bushel.  Two  years  later  it  came  from 
Hempstead,  Long  Island,  and  was  "extraordinary 
dear,"  at  six  shillings,  while  wheat  was  selling  at 
eight. 

So  late  as  1658,  when  the  colony  of  the  Providence 
Plantation  ventured  to  differ  from  the  Massachusetts 
theocracy  as  to  the  policy  to  be  observed  towards  the 
Quakers,  commercial  reprisals  were  both  looked  for 
and  dreaded.  "  They  seem  to  threaten  us,  by  cutting 
us  off  from  all  commerce  and  trade  with  them,  and 
thereby  to  disable  us  from  any  comfortable  subsist- 
ence, .  .  .  knowing  that  ourselves  are  not  in  a  capa- 
city to  send  out  shipping  of  ourselves."  So  writes  the 
General  Court  of  the  colony  to  its  agent  in  England, 
John  Clarke.  "  They  make  the  price,  both  of  their 
commodities  and  our  own."  Another  disadvantage 
under  which  the  poorer  colony  labored  was  the  great 
scarcity  of  English  coin.  "We  have  only  that  which 
passeth  among  these  barbarians,  and  such  com- 
modities as  are  raised  by  the  labor  of  our  hands, 
as  corn,  cattle,  tobacco,  &c.,  to  make  payment  in, 
which  they  will  have  at  their  own  rates,  or  else  not 


"Planter  and  "Plantation       3 1 

deal  with  us ;  whereby  .  .  .  they  gain  extraordinarily 
by  us." 

This  was  by  no  means  the  first  time  that  the  hand 
of  Massachusetts  had  fallen  heavily  on  her  weaker 
neighbor.  In  1642,  she  found  opportunity  to  put  the 
doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty  to  the  test.  For  al- 
though the  Providence  settlers  held  their  territory  by 
virtue  of  a  more  or  less  formal  conveyance  from  the 
Indians,  before  the  English  common  law  they  were 
purely  and  simply  squatters.  A  little  group  of  set- 
tlers on  the  farming-lands  of  Pawtuxet  had  found  the 
tranquil  order  of  their  days  unpleasantly  disturbed 
by  that  arch-agitator,  Samuel  Gorton.  They  ap- 
pealed to  Massachusetts  for  aid  in  upholding  the 
cause  of  law  and  order,  and  the  Bay  Colony  agreed 
to  permit  the  Pawtuxet  farmers  to  put  themselves 
under  the  sheltering  wing  of  her  jurisdiction.  Upon 
this,  Gorton  and  his  followers  withdrew  to  the  neigh- 
boring peninsula  of  Shawomet,  where  developments 
of  a  stormy  nature  awaited  them. 

The  conspicuous  nature  of  Gorton's  peculiar  re- 
ligious views  and  the  persistency  with  which  he  ad- 
vocated them,  together  with  a  fluency  of  tongue  and 
pen,  noteworthy  even  in  that  era  of  polemic,  speedily 
secured  him  disciples,  to  whom  the  name  of  ''Gor- 
tonists,"or  "Gortoneans,"  was  somewhat  contemptu- 
ously applied.  Backus,  the  historian  of  the  Baptists, 
writing  in  1777,  aptly  characterizes  Gorton  and  his 
methods.  "He  was  a  man  of  smart  capacity,  and  of 


3  2    Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

considerable  learning,  and  when  he  pleased  could  ex- 
press his  ideas  as  plainlyasanyman;  but  he  used  such 
a  mystical  method  in  handling  the  Scriptures,  and  in 
speaking  about  religion,  that  people  are  not  agreed  to 
this  day  what  his  real  sentiments  were." 

Public  opinion  in  Providence  was  also  unfriendly 
towards  Gorton.  He  had  been  forced  to  leave  the 
town,  as  the  result  of  a  street-brawl,  and  there  was, 
consequently,  no  disposition  to  interfere  actively  with 
the  attitude  of  Massachusetts.  By  this  time,  however, 
the  towns  of  Newport  and  Portsmouth,  on  the  island 
of  Aquidneck,  had  amicably  settled  certain  differ- 
ences of  opinion  as  to  civil  and  religious  matters,  and 
had  set  up  a  form  of  government  far  more  highly  or- 
ganized than  anything  to  be  found  on  the  mainland. 
The  leading  townspeople  on  the  island  were  men  of 
substance  and  position,  and  also  of  political  expe- 
rience. In  their  eyes,  the  extension  of  the  Massachu- 
setts jurisdiction  to  any  portion  of  Rhode  Island 
soil  was  a  pressing  danger,  which  called  for  strong  de- 
fensive measures.  The  most  effective  step  practicable 
was  promptly  decided  on,  and  Roger  Williams  was 
requested  by  the  towns  of  Newport  and  Portsmouth 
to  proceed  forthwith  to  England,  to  apply  for  a  patent 
from  the  English  government. 


Chapter   II 

THE   AGE    OE   THE   CHARTERS 

TO  a  man  of  Roger  Williams's  kind-hearted 
and  affectionate  temperament,  the  return 
to  his  native  land,  after  an  enforced  absence 
of  fourteen  years,  must  have  been  an  event  to  be  re- 
garded with  eager  anticipation.  He  had  left  England 
a  fugitive,  "harried  out  of  the  land";  he  came  back 
to  receive  a  warmly  courteous  welcome  from  power- 
ful and  sympathetic  friends. 

With  characteristic  disinterestedness  he  had  de- 
frayed the  expenses  of  the  journey  by  the  sale  of  his 
rights  in  certain  islands  in  Narragansett  Bay,  — 
namely,  Patience,  Prudence,  and  Hope.  History  is 
silent  as  to  the  ways  and  means  at  the  disposal  of  his 
wife  and  six  children,  who  remained  at  home.  It  was 
surely  with  sad  misgivings  that  the  wife  and  mother 
bade  her  husband  Godspeed  on  that  day  in  sunny 
June  when  he  left  her  for  the  Dutch  port  of  New  Am- 
sterdam, whence  he  was  to  take  ship  for  England. 
The  godly  magistrates  of  the  Massachusetts  colony 
could  not  feel  themselves  justified  in  permitting  so 
notorious  a  heretic  within  their  seaports,  even  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  his  departure  therefrom.  What- 
ever other  preparations  were  made  or  neglected  by 
our  traveller,  he  took  good  care  —  as  seems  to  have 


34   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

been  his  unvarying  habit — to  provide  an  ample  sup- 
ply of  pens,  ink,  and  paper,  and  he  employed  his 
leisure  during  the  long  voyage  in  the  composition  of 
his  famous  Key  into  the  Language  of  America.  He 
tells  us  that  he  "drew  the  materials"  for  this  racy  ac- 
count of  the  Indians,  their  language,  and  customs, 
"  in  a  rude  lump  at  sea,  as  a  private  help  to  my  mem- 
ory." The  little  volume  was  printed  in  London,  at 
the  press  of  Gregory  Dexter,  who  was  already  a  pro- 
prietor in  the  town  of  Providence.  It  caught  the  pub- 
lic fancy,  attracted  much  attention  in  official  circles, 
and  materially  furthered  the  object  of  the  author's 
mission  to  London.  Through  the  good  offices  of  Sir 
Henry  Vane,  his  former  colleague  in  negotiations  to 
avert  the  threatened  league  between  the  hostile  Pe- 
quods  and  the  Narraganset  Indians,  Roger  Williams 
was  enabled  not  only  to  present  his  request  to  the 
Board  of  Colonial  Commissioners  without  delay,  but 
to  see  it  brought  to  a  speedy  and  successful  issue. 

In  the  September  of  1644,  the  planter  sailed  for 
America,  taking  with  him  "a  full  and  absolute  Char- 
ter of  Civill  Incorporation,  to  be  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Incorporation  of  the  Providence  Plantations 
in  Narragansett  Bay  in  New  England."  This,  in  so 
many  words,  granted  to  the  settlers  **  full  power  and 
authority  to  govern  and  rule  themselves."  He  also 
carried  to  the  port  of  Boston,  whither  he  took  ship,  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  Governor  and  Assistants  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay,  on  the  part  of  the  Parliamen- 


Title-page    to    Roger  Williams's  "Key  to  the 
Indian  Language" 

From  the  original  in  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library. 


1111      ,Tr        /.I'yT"      -'-'//  IJ.IlY/     aaOO^l       OT       'i     l/f-!ITiT 

•auokaJ  vjAiazI 


./  1 

A  Key  into  tlie 

LANGUAGE 

O  F 

AMERICA: 

O  K, 
An  help  to  the  Language  of  the  }i!athes  , 

in  chac  pare  of  A  m  e  r.  ic  A,  called 
NEh'^ENG  L  AND. 

|,  Together,  with  briefe  Ohfervai'tc^}  of  the  Cu» 
*    ftomes ,  Manners  and  W  orfhips,  &c.  of  the 

arbrefaid  '^lil'cs,   \n  Peace  and  Warre, 
^      in  Life  and  Death. 

[On  all  which  aye  ad  Jed  Spirituall  ObfcrvAt'iom^ 

Generalland  Particular  hw  \.hc^y^f*thoHr,  of 

chicfe  and  Ipcciall  u(e(upon  all  occahons.^to 

all  the  Englijh  Inhabiting,  cbolc  parr:  > 

ycc  plcafant  and  profitable  co 

the  view  ot  all  men  : 


5r  ROGER  WILLIAMS  . 

ot"  FroVidence  m  '^Xe's^^-t.iguv;  <.  'i 


I         Printed  by  Gregory  'Dexter ^  1^43. 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     35 

tary  Commissioners.  This  interesting  epistle  con- 
tains an  expression  of  "the  sorrowful  resentment" 
entertained  in  England  that  "amongst  good  men 
driven  to  the  ends  of  the  world  .  .  .  there  should  be 
such  a  distance,"  and  suggests  "a  performance  of  all 
friendly  offices"  between  the  Bay  Colony  and  the 
Providence  Plantations,  the  more  so  because  of  "Mr. 
Roger  Williams's  great  industry  and  travels  in  his 
printed  Indian  labors  in  your  parts  (the  like  whereof 
we  have  not  seen  extant  from  any  part  of  America)." 

On  the  receipt  of  so  decided  an  intimation  of  the 
desirability  of  reconsidering  their  past  conduct,  the 
magistrates  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  felt  called 
on  "to  examine  their  hearts."  The  result  of  this  ex- 
amination was  the  gratifying  conclusion  that  there 
was  "no  reason  to  condemn  themselves  for  any  for- 
mer proceeding  against  Mr.  Williams."  And  unless 
he  could  be  brought  to  "  lay  down  his  dangerous  prin- 
ciples of  separation,"  they  saw  "no  reason  why  to 
concede  to  him,  or  any  so  persuaded,  free  liberty  of 
ingress  and  egress,  lest  any  of  their  people  should 
be  drawn  away  with  his  erroneous  opinions." 

His  Quaker  neighbor,  Richard  Scott,  has  given  an 
account  of  the  homecoming,  to  which  the  desire  to 
uphold  his  Quaker  creed  lends  a  touch  of  truly  hu- 
man asperity,  that  —  softened  by  the  distance  of  the 
centuries  —  is  not  without  a  certain  charm  of  pi- 
quancy. "Coming  from  Boston  to  Providence,"  he 
says,  "at  Seaconk  the  Neighbours  of  Providence  met 


3  6    ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

him  with  fourteen  Cannoes,  and  carryed  him  to  Pro- 
vidence. And  the  Man  being  hemmed  in  the  middle 
of  the  Cannoes,  was  so  Elevated  and  Transported 
out  of  himself,  that  I  was  condemned  in  myself, 
that  amongst  the  Rest  I  had  been  an  Instrument  to 
set  him  up  in  his  Pride  and  Folly."  The  thought  of 
Roger  Williams,  that  most  disinterested  and  simple- 
hearted  of  men,  so  **set  up"  as  to  be  "elevated  and 
transported  out  of  himself,"  cheers  one's  very  soul. 
We  can  only  wish  that  popular  applause  had  more 
frequently  greeted  his  untiring  efforts  for  the  public 
weal,  and  that  it  had  been  better  sustained. 

Although  the  charter  was  an  avowed  fact  so  early 
as  1644,  and  its  authority  fully  recognized,  it  was  not 
until  two  and  a  half  years  had  slipped  by  that  the 
wheels  of  governmental  machinery  were  sufficiently 
well  oiled  to  carry  to  a  successful  conclusion  the  first 
session  of  the  "General  Court  of  Election  ...  for 
the  Colony  and  Province  of  Providence."  This  body 
of  lawmakers  convened  at  Portsmouth,  and  in  the 
three  days  of  their  session  adopted  a  criminal  and 
civil  code,  a  bill  of  rights,  a  scheme  of  colonial  admin- 
istration providing  for  the  local  self-government  of 
the  towns,  and  an  executive  for  the  ensuing  year. 
This  last  was  made  up  of  a  president,  four  assistants, 
a  treasurer,  a  "general  recorder"  or  secretary,  and  a 
"general  sargent,"  or  sheriff.  The  town  of  Provi- 
dence sent  ten  delegates  to  this  first  General  Court  of 
the  colony,  with  instructions  to  set  forth  the  wish  of 


The  Age  of  the  Charters    3  7 

Providence  ''  to  be  governed  by  die  Laws  of  England, 
so  farr  as  die  nature  and  Constitution  of  this  planta- 
tion will  admitt";  and  further,  *'to  have  full  power 
and  authoritye  to  transacte  all  our  home  affaires." 

Inasmuch  as  *'Mr.  Roger  Williams  hath  taken 
great  paines  and  expended  much  time  in  the  obtayn- 
inge  of  the  Charter  for  this  Province,"  it  was  en- 
acted that  '*in  regard  of  his  so  great  travaile,  charges 
and  good  endeavours,"  he  should  be  freely  "given 
and  granted  ;^ioo."  Of  this  amount  Newport  was 
to  pay  fifty  pounds,  Portsmouth  thirty  pounds,  and 
Providence  twenty  pounds,  —  an  apportionment 
showing  the  relative  wealth  of  the  island  settlements 
and  that  of  the  mainland. 

"The  forme  of  Government"  was  declared  "De- 
mocraticall."  Warwick,  now  finally  exempted  from 
any  claim  on  the  part  of  Massachusetts,  was  admitted 
"to  the  same  priviledges  as  Providence."  All  men 
were  to  "walk  as  their  consciences  persuade  them, 
every  one  in  the  fear  of  his  God."  The  code  of  law 
adopted,  under  the  name  of  "The  Bulk  of  the  Laws," 
is  remarkable  for  the  humanitarian  tendency  of  its 
enactments.  Compared  with  the  codes  of  its  Puritan 
neighbors,  which  dealt  the  death  penalty  for  blas- 
phemy, profanity,  and  disobedience  to,  or  cursing  of, 
parents,  that  of  the  Providence  Plantation  seems  to 
emit  a  spirit  of  charity.  "  Poor  persons  that  steal  for 
hunger"  were  not  to  suffer  the  extreme  penalty  of  the 
law.  Imprisonment  for  debt  was  forbidden.  "A  sol- 


3  8   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

emn  profession  or  testimony"  was  to  be  accounted 
"of  as  full  force  as  an  oath."  The  General  Court  of 
the  colony  was  to  meet  on  the  first  Tuesday  after 
May  15  in  each  year,  "if  wind  and  weather  hinder 
not,"  no  small  item  in  the  account  when  we  consider 
the  necessity  for  navigating  Narragansett  Bay  in  a 
canoe. 

The  "home  affairs,"  respecting  which  Providence 
so  jealously  withheld  all  participation  from  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  are  interesting  rather  from  the  minute 
scale  of  adjustment  which  served  the  needs  of  this 
young  body  politic  than  from  the  intrinsic  import- 
ance of  the  details  involved.  Divisions  and  readjust- 
ments of  lands,  whether  in  behalf  of  public  or  private 
interests,  went  merrily  forward.  The  surveyor  must 
have  been  a  busy  man,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
brought  up  his  eldest  son  to  follow  the  same  trade. 
The  first  town  surveyor  was  Chad  Brown,  whose 
home  lot  was  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  present  Col- 
lege Street.  He  it  was  who  drew  up  the  list  of  the 
home  lots  and  the  meadows  from  which  our  know- 
ledge of  these  properties  is  obtained.  He  came  to 
Providence,  with  his  family,  in  1638,  was  one  of  the 
little  company  who  in  that  same  year  set  out  to  walk 
"in  the  Baptists  Way,"  and  two  years  later  served 
as  one  of  the  four  men  to  draw  up  the  "  scheme  of  Ar- 
bitration" for  the  government  of  the  town.  Roger 
Williams  speaks  of  his  services  in  bringing  "the  after- 
comers  and  the  first  twelve  to  a  oneness  by  arbitra- 


The  Age  of  the  Charters      39 

tion."  He  died  at  some  time  previous  to  1650,  and 
was  buried  on  his  home  lot,  where  the  court-house 
now  stands.  On  his  widow's  death,  in  1672,  the  home 
lot  came  into  the  possession  of  the  oldest  son,  John, 
also  a  surveyor  and  a  Baptist  elder.  John,  being  com- 
fortably settled  in  his  own  home  at  the  north  end  of 
the  Towne  Street,  sold  the  homestead  to  his  brother 
James,  then  living  in  Newport.  On  the  same  day, 
James,  in  turn,  resold  the  lot  to  Daniel  Abbott,  re- 
serving only  the  family  burying-ground.  Daniel  Ab- 
bott plays  a  loquacious  if  not  precisely  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  town  affairs  of  the  later  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Over  one  hundred  years  afterwards,  Chad 
Brown's  descendants,  John  and  Moses  Brown, — 
two  of  the  four  brothers  whose  biography  is  well- 
nigh  a  history  of  the  town  of  their  day,  —  bought 
back  a  part  of  the  old  home  lot,  and  presented  it  to 
Rhode  Island  College. 

The  town  of  the  earlier  Browns,  however,  knew 
not,  and  dreamed  not,  of  colleges.  The  "taking-up'* 
or  transferring  of  home  and  house  lots,  "uplands," 
"spots  of  medow,"  and  "pieces  of  salt  Marsh,"  with 
the  rights  and  privileges  thereto  appertaining,  ab- 
sorbed the  energy  of  the  untiring  land-traders,  and 
their  conveyances  crowd  the  town  records  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  Not  a  few  of  the  early  proprietors 
appear  to  have  invested  in  the  lands  of  the  town,  and 
held  their  property  for  a  rise,  or,  at  all  events,  they 
decided  for  reasons  more  or  less  sound  to  settle  else- 


40    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

where.  These  absentees  were  not  regarded  with  un- 
qualified approval,  and  practical  evidence  in  favor  of 
the  thesis  that  the  absentee  is  in  the  wrong  was  not 
long  in  presenting  itself.  In  1643  "it  was  agreed  by 
the  generall"  —  so  runs  the  town  record  —  that  a 
"horn  share  of  ground  .  .  .  allso  .  .  .  thre  akers 
of  madoe  ground  "  should  be  assigned  to  a  new  pro- 
prietor, but  with  the  following  proviso  —  if  he  "be 
absant  from  the  town  above  eightten  monthes  leving 
nither  wife  nor  child  heare  the  afor  saide  land  shall 
fall  in  to  the  townes  hand  again." 

The  "townes  hand"  is  equally  evident  in  the  com- 
pact signed  in  January,  1646,  by  the  "twenty-five- 
acre  men."  These  individuals,  "having  obteyned  a 
free  Grante  of  Twenty  five  Akers  of  Land  a  peece 
with  Right  of  Commoning  . .  .  doe  thankfully  accept 
of  the  Same ;  And  heereby  doe  promise  to  yield  Active ; 
or  passive  Obeydience  to  the  Authority  .  .  .  estab- 
lished in  this  Collonye  ...  As  alsoe  not  to  clayme 
any  Righte  to  the  Purchase  of  the  Said  plantation ; 
Nor  any  privilidge  of  Vote  in  Towne  Affaires ;  untill 
we  shall  be  received  as  free  Men  of  the  said  Towne 
of  Providence."  Among  the  names  of  these  humble 
and  subordinate  members  of  the  community,  who 
seem  to  have  been  admitted  on  probation,  are  several 
that  will  play  a  leading  part  in  the  near  future.  We 
find  here  Pardon  Tillinghast,  who  subsequently  be- 
came a  prominent  citizen,  and  a  veritable  pillar  of 
strength   to   his   Baptist   fellow-worshippers.  John 


The  Age  of  the  Charters      4 1 

Clawson's  name  is  here, — that  protege  of  Roger  Will- 
iams, whose  tragic  end  was  long  unique  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  little  town.  And  next  but  one  to  Clawson 
we  find  Benjamin  Hearndon,  on  whom  tradition 
fixed  the  curse  of  his  murdered  neighbor.  Here,  too, 
is  Epenetus  Olney,  the  thrifty  innkeeper,  before 
whose  well-known  hostelry  stood  a  famous  "liberty- 
tree,"  in  the  days  when  that  type  of  forestry  had  be- 
come popular. 

More  important  than  any  industrial  development 
yet  noted  was  the  offer  made  in  1646  to  John  Smith, 
the  former  miller  of  Dorchester.  This  was  to  the  ef- 
fect that  he  should  "have  the  valley  wherein  his 
house  stands  in  case  he  set  up  a  mill."  The  mill  was 
accordingly  "set  up"  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mo- 
shassuc,  near  John  Smith's  home  lot,  which  had  doubt- 
less been  situated  by  the  future  mill-pond  for  the 
greater  convenience  of  the  miller  and  his  calling.  A 
bridge  must  have  been  built  at  about  the  same  time. 
Such  a  structure  is  designated  as  "New-bridge"  in 
1 65 1,  when  John  Smith  purchased  a  "6  acre  Lot" 
nearby. 

The  John  Smith  who  figures  in  this  last  transac- 
tion was  the  son  of  the  first  miller,  whose  widow 
appears  to  have  made  an  agreement  with  the  town, 
in  1649,  to  carry  on  her  husband's  business.  John 
Smith  the  second  served  his  neighbors  in  his  profes- 
sional capacity  for  some  thirty-five  years.  The  field 
of  his  operations  embraced  not  only  a  grist-mill,  but 


42    Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

a  saw-mill  as  well.  To  his  widow  and  ten  children 
who  survived  him,  he  left  a  landed  estate  of  more 
than  three  hundred  acres,  situated  in  different  parts 
of  the  town,  and  varying  greatly  in  value.  Two 
daughters  received,  each,  forty  acres  of  land,  while  a 
third  was  given  ten  shillings,  and  it  would  be  a  rash 
man  who  should  undertake  to  prove  that  the  last- 
named  child  was  ill-treated  by  this  division.  One 
half  of  the  home  estate,  including  the  mill  and  her 
husband's  interest  in  the  saw-mill,  went  to  his  wife. 
The  eldest  son  received  a  much  larger  share  of  the 
property  than  was  given  to  his  brothers,  "upon  Con- 
ditions that  he  fayle  not  to  be  helpe  full  to  his  mother 
to  bring  up  the  rest  of  his  brothers  and  sisters,  some 
of  them  being  very  young." 

From  the  inventory  of  the  personal  property  we 
learn  something  of  the  furnishings  with  which  an 
average  townsman  surrounded  his  family  in  the  last 
quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  house  itself 
consisted  of  two  rooms,  a  "lower  Roome,"  and  a 
"  Chamber."  In  this  last,  the  only  pieces  of  furniture 
were  "two  bed  studs  with  the  beds  and  beding  to 
them  belonging."  In  the  room  below  were  one  bed- 
stead and  its  furnishings,  four  chairs,  "a  chest  with 
the  Booke  of  Martirs  in  it,  and  an  old  Bible  Some  lost 
and  some  of  it  torne."  For  kitchen  utensils  there  was 
a  brass  kettle,  a  small  copper  kettle,  "an  old  broken 
Copper  Kettle,  a  fryeing  pan,  a  spitt,  and  a  small 
Grater,  a  paile  and  a  Cann,and  3  Iron  Potts."  Table- 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     43 

ware  was  represented  by  *'two  Small  old  pewter  plat- 
ters, two  Basons  &  thre  porengers,  two  quart  Glasses, 
severall  wooden  dishes,  a  wooden  Bottle,  some  old 
trenchers,  and  foure  old  Spoones."  The  greater  part 
of  the  estate  of  ninety  pounds  consisted,  of  course,  of 
the  mill,  which  was  valued  at  forty  pounds,  and  the 
interest  in  "the  Saw  mill  adjoyneing,  with  the  old 
Mill-stone,"  estimated  at  three  pounds,  ten  shillings. 
Besides  this  there  was  live  stock  to  the  extent  of  one 
steer,  two  heifers,  two  bulls,  five  horses  of  varying 
and  detailed  attributes,  and  "i6  swine  great  and 
small  together." 

The  practical  advantages  of  having  one's  corn 
ground  at  home  instead  of  at  Newport,  and  carrying 
the  bags  to  the  mill  over  dry  planks  rather  than 
through  the  ford,  must  have  seemed  small  and  pro- 
saic to  the  farmers  of  Providence  in  comparison  with 
the  dazzling  future  unfolded  to  their  imaginations, 
when,  in  1648,  "a  Generall  bruitt"  was  ''noysed 
throwout  the  Colonies  .  .  .  Scituated  in  these  parts 
of  America,  of  a  Mine  Discovered  within  the  Juris- 
dictions ...  of  Providence  plantations  which  is  Sug- 
gested to  be  Gold."  The  reality  did  not,  however, 
make  good  the  above  "Suggestion."  A  year  later,  it 
is  true,  Roger  Williams  wrote  from  his  trading-post 
at  Cawcawmsqussick  to  Governor  Winthrop:  "Sir, 
concerning  the  bags  of  ore,  it  is  of  Rhode  Island, 
where  it  is  certainly  affirmed  to  be  both  gold  and  sil- 
ver ore,  upon  trial."  But  alas!   Further  examination 


44    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

dispelled  this  pleasing  delusion,  and  the  Rhode- 
Islanders,  perforce,  again  turned  their  attention  to 
ploughshares  and  fruit  trees. 

The  house,  or  trading-post,  at  Cawcawmsqussick 
is  entitled  to  more  than  a  passing  mention.  In  1637, 
an  enterprising  pioneer,  Richard  Smith  by  name, 
came  into  the  Narraganset  country,  —  *'a  most  ac- 
ceptable inhabitant,  and  a  prime  leading  man  in 
Taunton  and  Plymouth  colony,"  said  Roger  Will- 
iams of  this  new  arrival.  Smith  had  left  "faire  pos- 
sessions" in  England,  in  the  county  of  Gloucester, 
when  he  adventured  to  America  that  he  might  enjoy 
liberty  of  conscience.  Finding  the  theological  lim- 
itations of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  unprofitable  for  his 
soul's  welfare,  he  journeyed  to  Narraganset,  where  he 
settled  near  the  present  Wickford,  "  erected  a  house 
for  trade,  and  gave  free  entertainment  to  travellers." 
The  site  for  his  trading-post  was  well  chosen.  It  was 
close  to  the  Pequod  Path,  "the  great  road  of  the 
country,"  and  just  north  of  Wickford  Harbor. 

Smith  was  certainly  "a  prime  leading  man"  in  the 
way  of  trade.  Having  successfully  established  a  post 
in  the  Narraganset  country,  where  he  was  "Courte- 
ous to  all  Strangers  passing  that  way,"  he  became  a 
partner  in  a  similar  enterprise  within  the  Dutch  ter- 
ritory of  Long  Island,  where  his  cause  prospered  until 
the  Indian  raids  drove  all  settlers  in  those  parts  to 
take  refuge  at  New  Amsterdam.  But  even  this  mis- 
fortune was  not  without  a  certain  measure  of  mitiga- 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     45 

tion,  for  the  Indian  warriors'  torch  that  reduced  to 
ashes  the  trading-house  of  Richard  Smith  may  fairly 
be  said  to  have  lighted  another  fire  of  happier  omen. 
The  enforced  and  temporary  residence  of  the  trader 
and  his  family  at  New  Amsterdam  was  cheered  and 
enlivened  by  the  marriage  of  his  youngest  daughter, 
Catherine,  to  Doctor  Gysbert  op  Dyck  or  Updike, 
for  by  this  revised  version  the  family  name  was 
known  to  succeeding  generations.  On  the  death  of 
his  father-in-law.  Doctor  Gysbert  and  his  children 
obtained  a  goodly  share  of  the  family  estate  at 
Wickford.  The  old  Updike  house,  near  that  pleas- 
ant little  country  town,  stands  on  the  site  of  Rich- 
ard Smith's  block-house.  The  earlier  building  was 
burned  by  the  Indians  in  thecourse  of  King  Philip's 
War. 

Smith's  first  purchase  from  the  Indians  probably 
amounted  to  some  eighteen  or  twenty  square  miles. 
There  he  and  his  son,  Richard,  Junior,  did  a  thriving 
business,  and  to  this  neighborhood  Roger  Williams 
betook  himself,  on  his  return  from  England  with 
empty  pockets,  and  slight  prospects  of  filling  them 
from  any  more  substantial  token  of  regard  than  ap- 
preciative votes,  on  the  part  of  his  "loving  friends 
and  neighbors  "  of  Providence  Plantations.  His  trad- 
ing-house was  perhaps  a  mile  distant  from  that  of  the 
Smiths,  and  there  for  six  years  he  lived  and  pros- 
pered, providing  moral  and  religious  nutriment  for 
the  souls  of  his  Narraganset  friends,  as  well  as  hoes, 


46    Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

coats,  beads,  and  other  essentials  to  their  social  and 
economic  well-being. 

These  were  busy  years,  crowded  with  the  details  of 
farming,  trading,  preaching,  and  teaching,  and  also 
with  a  voluminous  correspondence,  in  the  midst  of 
which  appears  a  never-flagging  interest  in  all  that 
concerns  the  town  of  Providence.  The  one  hundred 
pounds  cheerfully  voted  him  by  the  grateful  colony 
in  its  first  General  Court  was  so  long  in  transit  that 
we  find  the  expectant  recipient  suggesting,  in  1651, 
that  since  he  has  ''  through  God's  providence  conven- 
iencye  of  improving  some  goats,  the  payment  of  it" 
might  be  ''in  cattle  of  that  kind."  The  social  ameni- 
ties of  a  trading-post  are  signified  in  his  gift  of  *'2 
small  papers  of  pins"  to  Mrs.  Winthrop,  "that  if  she 
want  not  herself,  yet  she  may  pleasure  a  neighbor." 
"Sir,"  he  writes  at  another  time,  "if  you  have  Car- 
penter's Geography,  or  other  discourse  about  the 
Earth's  diurnal  motion,  spare  it  a  little."  Again,  he 
sends  directions  for  the  use  of  hay-seed:  "It  is  best 
to  sow  it  upon  a  rain  preceding.  .  .  .  Sow  it  not  in 
an  orchard,  near  fruit  trees,  for  it  will  steal  and  rob 
the  trees,  etc."  It  was  from  his  trading-house,  too, 
that  Roger  Williams  made  his  sad  last  journey  to 
"Canonicus  the  great  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts, 
the  true  Lord  of  this  whole  Countrey,"  whose  eyes 
he  was  "sent  for  to  close  up  and  did." 

The  even  tenor  of  life  on  the  Great  Salt  River  and 
in  the  Narraganset  country  was  rudely  interrupted  in 


Richard  Smith  Block-house  at  Cocumscussuc 

Constructed  by  Richard  Smith,  Jr.,  about  1680,  partly 
from  the  materials  of  the  old  garrison  house.  From  a 
drawing  in  Whitefield's  Homes  of  our  Forefathers  in 
Rhode  Island,  1882. 


.  ir".  JJ8MUDOO 


•if,    !•  liv-  n  J'.  ',1  y.1      1111  1/ 


E  fiioi'7    .'j.  oii]  moil 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     M 

the  late  summer  of  1651  by  the  astonishing  and  most 
disconcerting  announcement  of  a  separation  —  nay, 
a  rending  in  twain — of  the  very  fabric  of  the  colonial 
body  politic.   For  there  appeared  to  the  settlers  Will- 
iam Coddington  of  Newport,  bringing  a  patent  from 
the  Council  of  State  in  England,  whereby  he  was 
created  governor  of  the  islands  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Conanicut  for  life.  The  audacity  of  such  a  project, 
backed  by  its  apparent  success,  must  have  dealt  a 
staggering  blow  to  the  confidence  with  which  the 
Rhode-Islanders  had  pursued  their  several  callings 
under  the  protection  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick's  patent. 
No  sooner  had  the  stroke  fallen,  however,  than  a 
counter-stroke  was  resolved  upon.  The  towns  of 
Providence  and  Warwick  hastened  to  place  them- 
selves on  record  as  ''imbodyed  &  incorporated  as  be- 
fore, by  virtue  of  our  Charter,"  and  they  forthwith 
appealed  to  Roger  Williams,  soliciting  him  to  betake 
himself  to  England,  "to  endeavor  the  renewing  of 
their  liberties" ;  for  it  seems  to  have  been  assumed  by 
the  colonists  that  the  patent  of  1644  was  annulled  by 
virtue  of  the  grant  to  Coddington.  If  ever  help  was 
asked  in  vain  of  Roger  Williams  the  fact  has  thus  far 
eluded  observation.  On  this  occasion  he  disposed  of 
the  Cawcawmsqussick  trading-post  to  his  neighbor, 
Richard  Smith,  for  fifty  pounds  in  ready  money,  and 
if —  as  he  says  in  one  of  his  later  letters  —  the  profits 
were  one  hundred  pounds  per  year,  the  worthy  Smith 
must  have  made  a  pretty  penny  by  the  transaction. 


4  8    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Permission  was  obtained  from  Massachusetts  to  sail 
from  the  port  of  Boston.  With  Williams  went  Doc- 
tor John  Clarke,  on  behalf  of  a  large  and  discontented 
minority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Newport  and  Ports- 
mouth, with  instructions  to  obtain,  if  possible,  a  de- 
cree annulling  the  Coddington  grant. 

John  Clarke,  the  well-known  physician  and  phi- 
lanthropist of  Newport,  was  destined  to  spend  twelve 
years  in  England,  before  his  mission  was  brought  to  a 
successful  close.  Although  it  proved  a  comparatively 
easy  matter  to  obtain  an  order  placing  Coddington's 
patent  in  abeyance,  a  time  and  opportunity  for  the 
rehearing  of  the  whole  question  were  not  so  readily 
come  by,  in  those  stirring  days  when  Parliament  and 
the  future  Lord  Protector  were  on  such  terms  of  bitter 
disagreement  that  the  application  of  the  sword  to  the 
Gordian  knot  was  felt  by  all  men  to  be  but  a  matter 
of  days. 

Sir  Henry  Vane  was  again  approached  in  the  col- 
ony's behalf,  and  once  more  proved  himself  an  in- 
valuable friend  and  ally.  "  The  sheet-anchor  of  our 
ship  is  Sir  Henry,"  wrote  Roger  Williams  to  the  towns 
of  Warwick  and  Providence,  "and  he  faithfully  pro- 
mised me  that  he  would  observe  the  motion  of  our 
New  England  business,  while  I  staid  some  ten  weeks 
with  his  lady  in  Lincolnshire  .  .  .  remember  I  am  a 
father  and  a  husband,"  the  letter  continues;  "I  have 
longed  earnestly  to  return  with  the  last  ship  ...  yet  I 
have  not  been  willing  to  withdraw  my  shoulders  from 


Portrait  of  William  Coddington 
From  original  portrait  in  Court  House  at  Newport. 


rornTTirraoO  mat.t.t-  ■  yiTjioH' 

.n<   ,  :yrl 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     49 

the  burthen,  lest  it  pinch  others,  and  may  fall  heavy 
upon  all.  ...  If  you  conceive  it  necessary  for  me 
still  to  attend  to  this  service,  pray  you  consider  if  it  be 
not  convenient  that  my  poor  wife  be  encouraged  to 
come  over  to  me,  and  to  wait  together  ...  for  the 
end  of  this  business.  .  .  .  I  write  to  my  dear  wife  my 
great  desire  of  her  coming  while  I  stay,  yet  left  it  to 
the  freedom  of  her  spirit,  because  of  the  many  dan- 
gers." 

A  year  earlier  he  had  despatched  an  epistle  to  his 
wife  which  is  probably  unique  in  the  annals  of  mar- 
ital correspondence.  In  this  extraordinary  document 
the  "recovery"  of '* his  Wife  M.W.  .  .  .  from  a  dan- 
gerous sicknesse"  serves  as  the  text  for  a  sermon,  or 
"  Discourse,"  of  almost  twenty  thousand  words,  en- 
titled "Experiments  of  Spiritual  Life  and  Health  and 
their  Preservatives."  And  yet,  despite  theological 
phraseology  and  involved  argument,  the  heartfelt 
sincerity  and  affection  of  the  opening  sentences  to 
his  "Dearest  Love  and  Companion  in  this  Vale  of 
Tears"  give  us  a  delightful  glimpse  of  the  tender 
husband  and  father. 

"My  dear  Love,"  he  writes,  "since  it  pleaseth  the 
Lord  so  to  dispose  of  me,  and  of  my  affairs  at  present, 
that  I  cannot  often  see  thee,  I  desire  often  to  send  to 
thee.  I  now  send  thee  that  which  I  know  will  be 
sweeter  to  thee  than  the  Honey  and  the  Honey-combe, 
and  stronger  refreshment  than  the  strongest  wines  or 
waters,  and  of  more  value  then  if  every  line  and  letter 


5  o    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

were  thousands  of  gold  and  silver.  ...  I  send  thee 
(though  in  Winter)  an  handfull  of  flowers  made  up  in 
a  little  Posey,  for  thy  dear  selfe,  and  our  dear  chil- 
dren, to  look  and  smell  on,  when  I  as  the  grasse  of  the 
field  shall  be  gone,  and  withered."  At  this  point  the 
theologian  comes  to  tlie  front,  and  without  further  loss 
of  time  plunges  into  a  disquisition  on  the  nature  of 
the  "inner  man,"  under  three  "heads"  and  thirty- 
four  "arguments."  Most  assuredly  this  diet  would 
seem  "strong  refreshment"  to  a  convalescent  of  the 
twentieth  century.  Let  us  trust  that  Mary  Williams 
was  both  invigorated  and  edified  by  the  tonic  so  elab- 
orately prepared  for  her  delectation. 

Upon  Vane's  retirement  from  public  afl^airs,  in 
1654,  the  prospect  of  immediate  action  became  so  lit- 
tle encouraging,  and  his  own  pecuniary  resources 
were  so  far  from  adequate  for  his  needs,  that  Williams 
decided  to  leave  the  matter  of  the  charter  in  John 
Clarke's  hands,  and  to  return  to  Providence.  Al- 
though hearty  expressions  of  gratitude  and  apprecia- 
tion had  reached  him  from  home,  it  is  a  sad  fact  that 
if  remittances  came  at  all,  they  were  few  and  far  be- 
tween, notwithstanding  that  the  town  of  Providence 
stood  committed  by  its  records  "to  pay  the  hundred 
pounds  that  is  dew  to  him  and  a  hundred  pounds 
more."  We  know  that  he  gave  lessons  in  London 
to  "two  young  gentlemen,  a  Parliament  man's 
sons,  as  we  teach  our  children  English,  by  words, 
phrases,  and  constant  talk,"  etc.  "Grammar  rules," 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     5  ^ 

it  seems,  were  even  at  that  early  date  ''esteemed  a 
tyranny." 

A  perusal  of  the  "town  papers"  shows  among  the 
items  submitted  in  June,  1 652,  eighteen  pounds  "paid 
to  Mr.  Roger  WilHams,"  and  five  pounds  more  "to 
his  wife  since  he  went  to  England."  This  substan- 
tial token  of  appreciation  was  soon  followed  across 
the  Atlantic  by  a  letter  from  the  General  Court,  in 
which  Roger  Williams  was  informed  that  "it  might 
tend  much  to  the  weighinge  of  men's  mindes,  and  sub- 
jectinge  of  persons  who  have  been  refractory"  if  he 
were  himself  appointed  governor  of  the  colony  by  the 
home  authorities.  But  no  sooner  was  the  proposal 
despatched  than,  with  one  accord,  it  was  regretted, 
and  in  the  next  session  of  the  Court  —  three  months 
later  —  it  was  voted  to  be  "contrarie  to  the  liberties 
and  freedom  of  the  free  people  of  this  Collonv,  and 
contrarie  to  the  end  for  which  the  sayd  Roger  Will- 
iams was  sent."  Happily  for  "the  sayd  Roger  Will- 
iams," the  ends  for  which  he  strove  were  not  those 
of  a  Coddington. 

William  Dyer,  who  appeared  at  Newport,  in  1652, 
with  an  order  annulling  Coddington's  patent,  proved 
to  be  anything  but  a  messenger  of  peace.  For  two 
more  weary  years  recriminations  were  busily  ex- 
changed between  the  towns  of  the  island  and  those  of 
the  mainland.  The  declaration  of  war  with  the  Dutch 
caused  a  passing  diversion,  but  proved  to  offer  oppor- 
tunity for  further  difference  of  opinion  rather  than 


5  2    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

for  that  union  in  which  is  strength.  Warwick  and 
Providence  learned  with  consternation  that  com- 
missions ''tending  to  war"  had  been  "granted  and 
given"  by  Portsmouth  and  Newport  to  John  Under- 
bill, Edward  Hull,  and  William  Dyer,  "which  is  like, 
for  ought  we  see,  to  set  all  New  England  on  fire,  for 
the  event  of  war  is  various  and  uncertaine,"  they  re- 
monstrated. Whether  the  "Councill  of  States'  direc- 
tion ...  to  offend  the  Dutch"  was  open  to  such  war- 
like construction  as  the  above  was  felt  by  the  party 
of  opposition  to  be  more  than  doubtful.  By  May  of 
the  following  year  (1654)  a  junction  with  the  island 
towns  was  effected  for  the  transaction  of  current  busi- 
ness. This  preliminary  union  was  followed  in  Au- 
gust by  a  formal  meeting  of  commissioners  from  "  the 
foure  Townes  uppon  the  reunitinge  of  this  Colonic  of 
Providence  Plantation,"  and  in  September  the  re- 
united colony  elected  Roger  Williams,  newly  arrived 
from  England,  for  their  president. 

The  even  more  important  role  of  peacemaker  was 
first  to  be  carried  to  a  conclusion,  and  to  that  end 
some  undiluted  home-truths  were  plainly  set  forth. 
"It  hath  been  told  me  that  I  labored  for  a  licentious 
and  contentious  people,"  they  were  roundly  told  by 
the  newly  elected  president;  ''it  is  said  .  .  .  that  both 
sides  wished  that  I  might  never  have  landed,  that  the 
fire  of  contention  might  have  had  no  stop  in  burn- 
ing. ..."  This,  and  more  to  the  same  effect,  reinforced 
by  a  letter  of  stern  rebuke  from  Sir  Henry  Vane,  pro- 


Signature  of  Roger  Williams 

As  President  of  the  Colony,  November  2,  1654.  From 
the  original  document  in  the  Moses  Brown  Papers,  vol. 
18,  p.  67,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


^  ,-^noIaD  aril  ^o  jnabiaaiT  sA 
'A  9flj  ni  Jnomuooh  iBntgho  arfj 

.  ,,,•,  IT  .j.,„ig  ■,,(»  .,;   r-;s  r,   p.i 


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o'^' 


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w.u.;;«cajPTk 


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.;'3~;-:^ct- 


.^i 


The  Age  of  the  Charters      5  3 

duced  a  chastened  frame  of  mind  in  the  townspeople 
of  Providence,  who  describe  themselves  as  "  an  outcast 
and  despised  people  .  .  .  greatly  disturbed  and  dis- 
tracted by  the  ambition  and  covetousness  of  some 
amongst  us,"  whose  hope  it  is  that  posterity  "shall 
read  in  our  town  records  your  pious  and  favourable 
letters  and  loving  kindness  to  us,  and  this  our  answer, 
and  real  endeavor  after  peace  and  righteousness." 
And  indeed  peace,  if  not  righteousness,  endured  be- 
tween the  towns  of  the  colony  for  the  two  years  and  a 
half  during  which  Roger  Williams  filled  the  office  of 
president.  Although  Coddington  did  not  explicitly 
abandon  his  assumption  of  executive  powers  until 
the  spring  of  1656,  when  he  "publickly  professed" 
submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Protector,  a 
general  sense  of  the  futility  of  his  position  had,  long 
before,  quieted  public  apprehension. 

A  much  greater  amount  of  uneasiness  was  experi- 
enced in  the  town  of  Providence  at  the  disturbing  pro- 
spect of  "making  war  upon  the  Dutch,"  with  whom 
the  settlement  had  always  maintained  friendly  rela- 
tions, and  through  whose  enterprising  traders  a  large 
part  of  her  supplies  were  obtained.  Nevertheless, 
since  hostilities  seemed  imminent,  a  "Traine  band" 
was  organized,  officered  by  a  "Liutenant,  Ensigne, 
Sergeant,"  two  "Corporalls,"  and  a  "Gierke,"  the 
latter's  duties,  evidently,  to  consist  of  listing  "the 
Fines  from  absent  souldiers,"  who  were  to  pay  two 
and  sixpence  for  each  offence.  In  the  following  year 


54   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  penalty  for  absence  was  decreed  to  be  **  ^s.  or  no- 
thing as  the  generall  &  Towne  Officers  or  chiefe  com- 
mander in  the  Band  shall  thinke  meete."  Notwith- 
standing this  apparent  loosening  of  the  bonds  of  mili- 
tary discipline,  measures  were  taken  to  provide  a 
**Maugazine  of  armes  and  amunition  in  the  Towne." 

Fears  of  an  Indian  outbreak  were  doubtless  respon- 
sible, in  part  at  least,  for  these  displays  of  martial 
ardor.  Scarcely  had  Roger  Williams  reached  the  Pro- 
vidence Plantation  when  his  diplomatic  talents  were 
exerted  to  mend  a  breach  between  Massachusetts  and 
the  Narraganset  Indians.  For  some  months  Ninigret, 
"the  proud  and  fierce"  sachem  of  the  Nyantics, 
whose  headquarters  were  at  Pawcatuck,  now  West- 
erly, stood  in  danger  of  an  attack  from  the  troops  of 
the  Bay  Colony.  The  danger  was  averted,  but  its 
traces  may  be  seen  in  such  enactments  as  that  per- 
mitting one  man  to  be  left  at  home  on  training-days 
on  "  those  Farmes  which  are  one  mile  off  the  Town 
alone,"  and  in  the  strict  orders  issued  to  prevent  sell- 
ing ammunition  to  the  Indians,  who  were,  neverthe- 
less, *' filled  with  artillery  and  ammunition  from  the 
Dutch,  openly  and  horridly,  and  from  all  English 
over  the  country  (by  stealth),"  —  to  quote  the  indig- 
nant words  of  Roger  Williams  to  the  Court  of  Magis- 
trates, at  Boston. 

Another  precaution  was  the  appointment  of  two 
**ordinarie  keepers  in  each  Towne,  for  the  preventing 
of  the  great  mischiefe  of  Indian  drunkenness."  They 


The  Age  of  the  Charters      55 

were  to  have  the  sole  right  to  sell  liquor  to  any  one, 
English  or  Indian,  in  less  quantities  than  one  gallon, 
and  further,  in  the  case  of  an  Indian,  the  amount  of 
spirituous  refreshment  to  be  obtained  at  the  ordinary 
was  limited  to  one  quarter  of  a  pint  "  of  liquers  or  wine 
a  day."  Nor  was  this  by  any  means  the  extent  of  the 
regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  price  at  retail  was 
fixed,  "not  to  exceed  four  shillings  a  quart,  at  peage 
[wampum]  six  per  pennie";  and  all  liquors  were  or- 
dered "recorded  in  the  Towne  records,"  on  penalty 
of  forfeiture.  Lastly,  an  excise  was  established  for 
the  benefit  of  the  town  treasury. 

The  local  method  of  replenishing  the  town  purse  at 
Providence  had  heretofore  been  a  rate  levied  on  the 
live  stock  of  various  sorts,  such  as  that  of  1649,  when 
"the  Constable  of  the  Town"  was  ordered  "to  levy 
and  gather  3 J.  for  Cows  id.  for  Swine  and  id.  pr 
Goat  for  Common  Charges."  Since  at  the  same 
meeting  it  was  deemed  fitting  that  the  constable 
should  have  "a  staffe  made  him  whereby  he  shall  be 
knowne  to  have  the  authority  of  the  Towne-Con- 
stable,"  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  assume  that  in  his 
position  as  tax-gatherer  "a  staffe"  would  carry  with 
it  a  certain  amount  of  practical  authority  to  which 
the  cows  and  goats  might  prove  amenable,  in  case 
their  owners  should  be  disposed  to  parley.  The 
earliest  "towne  rate"  extant  in  the  Providence 
records  is  that  of  1650.  Fifty-one  tax-payers  are 
listed,  whose  total  assessment  amounts  to  fifty-six 


5  6    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

pounds,  five  shillings.  Two  men  among  these  pay 
three  pounds  and  over.  Two  pay  a  fraction  over  two 
pounds.  One  pays  five  pounds.  This  last  was  Bene- 
dict Arnold,  who  subsequently  removed  to  Newport, 
where  his  stone  mill  has  proved  a  treasure-house  of 
conjecture,  alike  for  the  critical  scholar  and  the 
legend-loving  poet. 

In  a  community  whose  property  chiefly  consisted 
of  pasture  lands  and  the  cattle  which  fed  on  them, 
we  should  expect  to  find  an  abundance  of  hides,  both 
raw  and  cured,  and,  presently,  tanyards  and  the 
leather  trades.  It  is  in  accordance  with  this  natural 
development  along  the  line  of  least  resistance  that  we 
observe  Edward  Inman  selecting  a  home  lot  "con- 
venient ...  for  his  trade  of  dressing  fox  Gloves," 
in  1652.  A  few  years  later,  "Tho;  Olnie  Junr  his 
house  Lot"  was  to  be  "la yd  out  by  the  Stompers," 
as  he  had  requested,  "provided  he  follow Taning." 
"The  Stompers"  was  a  street,  or  lane,  which  entered 
the  Towne  Street  from  the  west  at  a  point  near  the 
northern  extremity  of  that  main  artery  of  the  village 
life.  It  followed  the  brow  of  a  short  hill,  or  blufi^, 
above  the  river,  and  then  plunged  down,  by  a  some- 
what steep  descent,  to  the  bridge  by  the  mill.  The  old 
thoroughfare  still  exists,  as  Stampers  Street,  but  its 
grade  is,  of  course,  much  altered.  In  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century  it  marked  the  centre  of  the 
public  life  of  the  settlement,  and  as  such  was  sug- 
gested as  a  suitable  place  for  a  block-house,  should 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     5  7 

this  refuge  prove  necessary  in  the  event  of  open  hos- 
tilities between  the  New-England  colonies  and  the 
Indians.  This  threatened  peril  was  happily  averted, 
and  another  generation  grew  to  manhood  ere  the 
traditional  friendship  of  the  Narragansets  failed  to 
shield  the  Providence  Plantation. 

The  welcome  tidings  of  peace  with  the  Dutch  was 
shortly  followed  by  the  announcement  of  Cromwell's 
death,  and  that  fateful  piece  of  news  proved  but  the 
prelude  to  a  greater  change ;  the  King  was  to  enjoy 
his  own  again.  With  laudable  zeal  the  colony  of 
Providence  Plantation  kept  well  abreast  of  the  times, 
and  offered  congratulations  and  expressions  of  loyal 
devotion  to  each  arbiter  of  its  fate,  in  turn.  The 
trustworthy  John  Clarke  received  a  renewal  of  his 
commission  as  agent,  that  he  might  appear  duly 
accredited  in  the  eyes  of  the  new  dispensation,  and  to 
his  industry  and  sagacity  the  colony  owed  her  new 
charter,  issued  in  1663.  Thirteen  years  of  residence 
in  England,  the  last  two  of  which  had  been  filled  to 
satiety  with  the  formalities  of  official  negotiation,  not 
unmingled  with  a  certain  amount  of  back-stairs 
intrigue,  had  reduced  the  estimable  physician's  re- 
sources to  a  pitiable  condition.  He  was  forced  to 
borrow  money  by  mortgaging  his  estates  at  Newport, 
and  although  the  grateful  colony,  on  being  informed 
of  his  need,  promptly  voted  "that  the  first  thing  that 
shall  be  pitched  on  and  agitated  shall  be  how  to  rayse 
supplies  for  Mr.  John  Clarke,"  and  forthwith  passed 


5  8    ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

a  resolution  to  send  him  one  hundred  pounds  "by 
the  first  shipe  that  goes,"  and  to  "  save  him  harmless 
in  his  estate,"  there  is  but  too  good  reason  to  fear 
that  two  thirds  of  the  amount  due  was  never  paid. 

The  new  charter  was  received  with  every  demon- 
stration of  respect.  "  Att  a  very  great  meeting  and 
assembly  of  the  freemen  of  the  Collony  of  Providence 
Plantations,  at  Newport,"  in  the  November  of  1663, 
the  charter  was  ''taken  forth  and  read  ...  in  the 
audiance  and  view  of  all  the  people ;  .  .  .  and  .  .  . 
the  letters  with  His  Majestyes  Royall  Stampe,  and 
the  broad  scale,  with  much  becoming  gravity  held  up 
on  hygh,  and  presented  to  the  perfect  view  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  then  returned  into  the  box  and  locked  up  by 
the  Governor,  in  order  to  the  safe  keeping  of  it." 
To  the  expectant  listeners  before  whom  this  guaranty 
of  their  privileges  was  read  aloud,  the  most  import- 
ant clause  was  probably  that  which  declares  that  no 
man  shall  be  "any  wise  molested  punished  disquieted 
or  called  in  question  for  any  differences  of  opinion  in 
matters  of  religion."  From  that  time  to  this,  unchal- 
lenged and  unquestioned,  the  "livelie  experiment 
.  .  .  that  a  flourishing  civill  State  may  stand  and 
best  be  maintained  .  .  .  with  a  full  liberty  in  reli- 
gious concernments,"  has  been  "set  forth,"  and  has 
extended  throughout  a  commonwealth  prosperous 
beyond  the  wildest  dreams  of  its  bold  pioneers,  and 
reaching  from  the  Atlantic  coast  of  their  early 
struggles  to  the  South  Seas  of  their  brightest  visions. 


The  Age  of  the  Charters     59 

In  the  nature  of  things  a  royal  charter  embodied, 
for  Englishmen,  a  distinct  and  venerated  authority, 
which  it  was  not  in  the  temperament  of  the  average 
man  to  disregard.  Under  this,  new  influence  the 
colony  insensibly  changed  its  attitude  on  public 
questions,  and  on  the  whole  it  may  be  said  that  from 
this  time  the  tendency  —  in  spite  of  many  reaction- 
ary episodes  —  was  to  unify,  to  grow  together,  and 
to  realize  a  common  responsibility  to  work  under  a 
common  authority  for  the  well-being  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole. 


Chapter   III 


ROGER  WILLIAMS  AND  THE  TOWN  OF 
PROVIDENCE  — KING  PHILIP'S  WAR 

THE  brief  period  of  Roger  Williams's  serv- 
ice as  president  of  the  plantation  he  had 
founded,  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new 
phase  in  the  relation  between  himself  and  the  town  of 
Providence.  He  returned  from  England  in  1654  to 
find  the  little  colony  in  a  condition  closely  bordering 
on  anarchy.  Liberty  had  become  license.  Every 
man  did  as  seemed  best  for  his  own  interests,  with 
small  regard  for  those  of  his  neighbor.  A  disposition 
to  settle  disputes  by  the  summary  method  of  a  street- 
fightrather  than  by  the  arbitration  of  a  town-meeting, 
grew  apace.  Samuel  Gorton  had  filled  the  office  of 
president  of  the  colony  during  part  of  the  turbulent 
years  when  Williams  was  absent  in  England,  and 
Gorton  was  a  man  whose  recriminative  talents  shine 
forth  conspicuously,  even  in  that  age  and  country. 
Yet  Gorton  publicly  declared  himself  unable  to  stem 
the  tide  of  argument  and  vituperation  which  he  was 
forced  to  encounter.  "Such  men  are  fittest  for  office 
in  this  place,"  he  wrote  to  his  "Worthie  friends"  of 
Providence,  "That  can  with  most  ease  undergoe  the 
greatest  Load  of  Ignominy  and  Reproach,  of  which 
for  my  own  Part,  I  am  uncapable." 


Title-page    of    Samuel    Gorton's   "Simplicities 
Defence  against  Seven-Headed  Policy" 

From  the  original  in  the  library  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society. 


fiTIMIIMlS"    8'mOT^oO     viaUM/  lOA<r-3JTlT 


SlMTLiCiTJES  VSFEJsQCE 

againft 

5£VEN-HEADED  POLICY. 

OR 

A  true  complaint  of  a  peaceable  people  ^  being 
part  of  fhc  EngJiih  in  New  HnglandjWadcuncotnc  ftate 
o^  O.u  £ogUnd,igiin(t  crucil  perlecutors 

Vnited  in  (^hurch- government 

\i\  thofe  parts. 

Wherein  is  madernanifeft  the  manifold  cut-ragc$ 
cruclrieSjOppreflions,3ncl  taxations,by  crucil  andclofe  im- 
priionmems,  He  and  l^ord,  deprivation  of  goods,  Lindi,  apii  liro 
Ivhood,  a""",  fuch  Ike  barbirous  inhumsnit:es,  exercifrd  apou  the 

people  »f  ^''fj'-.nee  }>tirirat;r;/is  i/i   the  Nanlryginfct  Bay  by  thoic  of  chc 

Ma(r.icli'.iic£j.  wiili  the  reft  uf  ihc  united  Colonic*,  R'ticWxnz  thcmfclvet 

bcoynd  the  houwdi  of  all  their  own  )urTdi6ion», perpetrated  and  afted 

in  luch  an  unrcafonable  and  barbarous  manner,  ai  many 

thereby  have  Joft  their  lives. 

As  It  harh  been  fjith fully  dcchrcd  to  the  Honourable 

CacAi  aitticof  Lories  »nd  Comment  fo-  Forrain  PlaotatiofM* 

whcicuponthcy  gave  prefcnt  Order  for  Kedrcfi. 

Thefighr  and  confideration  whereof  hath  moved  a  great 

Country  of  the  Indians  and  NiMvesin  thofc  parrs.  Princes  and 

pcopt  fo  fiatmi:  iinto  the  Crown  of  England,  and  earneftly  to  fue  lothi 

5'. -lie  ^hcrcolf  forfafeguard  and  rtieUci  ircinliiccrucltiei, 

JmfrimatHr^  ty4Hz.  3«».  \€At6.  Diligently  perufed,  Approved,  and 

Liccnfed  to  the  PrcfTc,  according  to  Order  by  piibl»kc  Authority. 

LONDON, 

Printed  by  7*A*  Altuock^^  and  are  to  be  fold  by  Giorft  whttfinf 

t«»  K  the  Uue  Anehor  neer  the  Royal  ExahAnge  io 

Cernhtl,    1647. 


JVilliams  and  ^Providence    6 1 

Roger  Williams  appeared  among  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  in  the  midst  of  their  distractions  and 
contentions,  with  all  the  prestige  which  his  services 
in  their  behalf  and  his  influence  with  those  high  in 
authority,  could  bestow.  These  advantages  of  his 
position,  and  his  never-failing  tact  as  an  arbitrator, 
speedily  brought  about  no  small  measure  of  peace.  In 
the  nature  of  things,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  pen- 
dulum would  presently  swing  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, and  it  was  not  many  months  before  the  reaction- 
ary temper  of  the  people  was  made  manifest  in  several 
small  incidents  of  the  local  administration.  The  leader 
of  the  opposition  was  William  Harris,  a  man  whom 
Roger  Williams  utterly  distrusted  and  disliked,  but 
whose  practical  ability  was  sufficient  to  secure  him  a 
considerable  following.  Harris  was  now  living  at  Paw- 
tuxet.  His  first  aggression  took  the  form  of  a  pamphlet 
attacking  the  fundamental  principles  of  law  and  order, 
and  this  in  sufficiently  explicit  terms  to  lead  Williams 
to  accuse  him  of  high  treason.  The  court  failed  to  sub- 
stantiate the  charge,  and  the  matter  was  shelved  by 
a  reference  to  the  colony's  agent  in  England,  John 
Clarke. 

While  Harris  was  maturing  his  strategic  plans  for 
the  next  manoeuvre,  the  missionary  zeal  of  the 
Quakers  was  forced  on  the  attention  of  the  General 
Court  by  a  letter  from  the  Puritan  colonies,  request- 
ing the  cooperation  of  Rhode  Island  in  the  attempt 
to  stamp  out  this  new  and  "most  pestilential"  heresy. 


6  2   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  reply  sent  back  by  President  Benedict  Arnold 
and  his  assistants  is  well  known:  "We  have  no  law  to 
punish  any  for  only  declaring  by  words  their  minds 
.  .  .  concerning  .  .  .  the  ways  of  God  as  to  Salva- 
tion and  an  eternal  condition  " ;  and  to  this  declara- 
tion of  principle  was  added  a  counsel  of  expediency: 
"  in  those  places  where  these  people  .  .  .  are  most  of 
all  suffered  to  declare  themselves  freely  .  .  .  there 
they  least  of  all  desire  to  come." 

Contrary  to  the  anticipations  thus  expressed  by 
President  Arnold,  the  Quakers  not  only  "desired  to 
come"  to  the  Providence  Plantation,  but  once  there, 
they  stayed,  prospered,  and  made  a  goodly  number 
of  converts.  Catherine,  the  wife  of  Richard  Scott, 
who  has  already  figured  in  the  religious  history  of  the 
colony,  now  became  a  Quaker,  and  made  her  way 
from  Providence  to  Boston,  to  "bear  testimony." 
She  was  followed  by  many  others,  and  as  the  tide  of 
missionary  zeal  swelled  until  it  reached  the  point  of 
fanaticism,  the  punishments  meted  out  to  the  trans- 
gressor within  the  Bay  Colony's  jurisdiction  became 
proportionately  brutal  and  inhumane.  To  Roger 
Williams,  fresh  from  his  sad  experience  of  the  dis- 
orders rife  in  a  community  where  every  man  is  a  law 
to  himself,  it  appeared  evident  that  the  outbursts  of 
fanaticism  referred  to  might  easily  become  subvers- 
ive of  all  civil  authority;  while  the  harmless  depart- 
ure from  certain  social  customs,  offensive  to  the 
Quakers,  must  have  seemed  to  him  a  step  in  the  same 


Williams  and  Trovidence     63 

direction.    He  accordingly  took  an  immediate  and 
decided  stand  against  the  Quaker  doctrine  of  the 
"  inner  light,"  and  in  the  heat  of  his  controversy  with 
George  Fox  —  at  a  later  period  of  his  career  —  de- 
clared "that  a  due  and  moderate  restraint  and  pun- 
ishment" of  such  ''incivilities"  as  disrespect  towards 
one's  superiors,  and  the  use  of  "thee"  and  "thou" 
in  conversation,  was  "far  from  persecution,"  and 
even  "a  duty  and  commandment  of  God."    So  dif- 
ferent is  the  point  of  view  of  the  man  who  conducts 
a  government  from  his  who  leads  an  opposition. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  Quakers 
had  the  sympathy  and  respect  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  plantation.   Especially  was  this  true  of  Newport, 
where  the  larger  share  of  such  prosperity  and  cultiva- 
tion as  existed  in  the  colony  was  to  be  found.    From 
the  beginning,  the  influence  of  the  Quakers  grew 
steadily,  and  they  had  many  sympathizers  among 
those  who  did  not  profess  their  faith,  as,  for  example, 
our  old  friends,  Samuel  Gorton  and  William  Harris. 
This  was  the  state  of  affairs  when,  in  the  closing 
months  of  1660,  there  began  the  long  and  furious 
controversy  over  the  "Pawtuxet  purchase."    The 
General  Court  had  given  permission  to  the  town  of 
Providence  "to  purchase  a  little  more  [land]  not 
exceeding  three  thousand  acres."  Thereupon  Will- 
iam Harris  promptly  obtained  the  so-called  con- 
firmatory deeds,  or  conveyances,  from  the  Narra- 
ganset  sachems,  in  which  the  phraseology  of  the 


6 4   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

grant  of  1639  was  so  interpreted  as  to  include  some 
three  hundred  thousand  acres  outside  the  town 
boundaries  as  originally  laid  down.  To  this  trans- 
action the  town  of  Providence  took  no  exception, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  proceeded  "to  sett  the  Boundes 
of  our  plantation,"  in  accordance  with  the  new  grant, 
"Twenty  miles  from  foxes  hill  Westward  up  in  the 
Countrey."  To  a  letter  of  protest  from  Roger 
Williams,  written  in  behalf  of  his  Indian  friends,  the 
town  returned  an  answer  "Drawne  up"  by  three 
men,  of  whom  William  Harris  was  one,  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect:  "wee  know,  that  if  wee  lett  goe  our 
True  hold  already  Attained,  wee  shall  (if  not  our- 
selves, yett  our  posteretye)  Smart  for  itt,  and  wee 
conceive  herein  that  wee  doe  Truely  understand 
what  your  Selfe  doth  not,  And  if  your  Aprehension 
take  place,  as  wee  hope  it  never  will,  in  those  your 
proposalls.  Wee  happely  may  See  what  wee  conceive 
You  desire  not,  the  Ruine  of  what  you  have  given 
name  to  (viz)  poore  providence." 

Here  this  particular  matter  rested  for  some  seven 
years.  The  conservative  policy  just  set  forth  did 
much  to  diminish  Roger  Williams's  popularity,  and 
is  probably  accountable  for  certain  acts  and  orders  of 
the  town-meeting  whereby  the  measure  of  reproof 
and  admonition  with  which  the  apostle  of  religious 
liberty  had  striven  to  turn  his  neighbors  from  their 
evil  courses,  was  meted  out  to  him  again. 

Shortly  after  the  correspondence  just  quoted,  the 


JVilliams  and  Vrovidence     65 

case  of  William  Burrows  came  up  for  consideration. 
William  Burrows  had  been  a  freeman  of  Providence 
for  over  twenty  years.  He  signed  the  agreement  of 
1640.  He  was  taxed  in  the  rate  of  1650,  and  he  once 
in  a  while  served  as  town  juror.  Whether  through 
illness,  or  old  age,  —  perhaps  both,  —  he  became 
unable  to  carry  on  the  business  of  his  farm,  and  in 
1655  he  sold  "his  whole  parcell  of  Meadow  .  .  .  and 
six  acres  of  upland  lying  togeather  at  Newbridge"  to 
Thomas  Arnold,  on  these  terms,  —  that  Arnold 
should  pay  him  forty  shillings  yearly,  so  long  as  he 
(Burrows)  should  live,  "Hve  he  longer,  or  die  sooner 
at  the  good  pleasure  of  God."  The  form  of  payment 
was  to  be  as  follows:  "The  first  thirteene  shillings 
and  foure  pence  in  Labour  of  ploughing  or  Carting 
or  some  of  both;  secondly  the  said  summe  131.  \d.  in 
English  Corne  Wheat  or  Rye,  or  some  of  both  as  the 
price  shall  be  Currant  at  Providence  after  harvest; 
&  the  said  summe  of  131.  \d.  in  swine's  flesh,  at 
killing  time  before  Winter."  To  this  agreement  the 
name  of  Roger  Williams  is  signed  as  witness. 

Three  years  later,  two  cows  belonging  to  Burrows 
were  turned  over  to  Henry  Redock,  in  present  pay- 
ment of  a  debt  of  eight  pounds,  and,  on  his  side, 
Redock  agreed  to  furnish  Burrows  "151.  yearly  in 
Butter  and  Cheese  at  the  comon  price,"  during 
Burrows's  lifetime.  Furthermore,  at  Burrows's  death 
his  "Three  Score  Acors  of  Land,  And  Meddow  at 
neutaconkonitt"  were  to  go  to  Redock's  son,  and 


66   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 


"his  movables  and  Debtes"  to  Redock's  daughter, 
and  in  conclusion,  "the  Said  Henry  Redock  hereby 
ingageth  himselfe,  and  his  heirs  to  provide  conven- 
iently for  the  Buriall  of  the  Said  William  Burrowes." 
And  here  again,  Roger  Williams  acted  as  witness. 

From  the  letter  written  by  the  town,  t\vo  years 
afterward  (1660),  it  is  evident  that  Roger  Williams 
had  been  put  in  charge  of  the  Burrows  estate, 
whether  by  the  town  or  not  does  not  appear.  It  is  also 
evident  that  the  detailed  arrangements  so  carefully 
stipulated  in  the  documents  quoted  had  failed  to 
meet  all  the  emergencies  of  the  case.  Consequently, 
Williams,  and  others  as  well,  called  on  the  town  to 
come  forward  and  provide  more  satisfactorily  for  the 
poor  man.  The  town  took  up  the  case,  and  "having 
no  Knowledg  how  Matters  Stood  with  his  Estate," 
sent  for  Roger  Williams,  who  "came  not,"  but  sent  a 
copy  of  the  agreement  with  Redock,  "which  was  no 
Satisfaction." 

Thereupon  the  townspeople,  in  their  meeting  as- 
sembled, took  upon  themselves  with  no  little  zest  the 
role  of  mentor,  and  proceeded  to  indite  a  letter  of 
reproof  to  Roger  Williams,  in  a  tone  of  high  moral 
superiority.  "As  for  your  paper  we  are  Sorrey  to 
See  Such  unwise  passages,  That  a  debt  due  after 
death  Should  be  payde  out  of  his  Estate  whilst  hee  is 
yett  living  is  [in]  A  manner  as  wee  conceive  takeing 
Bread  out  of  his  mouth,  for  wee  judge  it  the  princeple 
of  his  lively  hood.  And  wee  thinke  if  it  had  benn  well 


IVilliams  and  Trovidence    67 

managed  might  have  given  A  good  Stroake  to  his 
maintenance,  And  wee  judg  the  Law  will  make  them 
Keepe  him  while  hee  is  living,  that  Should  have  his 
Revenewes  when  hee  is  dead;  only  one  thing  wee 
well  perceive  is  taken  care  for  (viz)  an  honorable 
Buriall,  but  wee  find  but  little  honorable  care  for  his 
Livelyhood;  Sir  wee  desire  you  would  take  all  in 
good  part,  wee  intend  no  Evile  but  willing  to  give  A 
hint  as  we  find  it,  we  Rest:  Yor  Lo:  Neighbours." 

It  may  be  that  the  Redock  family  were  able  to  defy 
the  law,  even  in  the  face  of  their  prospective  enjoy- 
ment of  the  "Revenewes"  of  the  Burrows  estate. 
Certain  it  is  that  they  make  no  further  appearance  in 
the  town  records.  A  home  for  Burrows  was  found 
with  Roger  Mowry,  the  "ordinary  keeper"  in  Provi- 
dence, whose  license  bound  him  to  maintain  a  bed 
for  the  entertainment  of  strangers,  and  whose  hos- 
pitality was  at  the  service  of  every  man  whose  charge 
was  paid,  whether  by  himself,  or  his  residuary  le- 
gatees, or  the  town  rates.  In  the  present  instance  an 
agreement  was  made  "with  the  Towne  to  Keepe 
him,"  and  for  two  years  all  went  well.  Then  it  is 
probable  that  the  payments  of  the  stipulated  annuity 
of  grain,  pork,  butter,  and  cheese  ran  behind,  for  in 
October,  1663,  the  town  deputies  were  instructed  to 
"goe  unto  all  Inhabetantes  .  .  .  to  see  what  will  be 
Freely  Contributed  towardes  the  reliefe  of  William 
Burrows."  And  if  this  appeal  to  the  liberality  of  the 
townspeople  should  not  result  in  the  contribution  of 


68   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

"3.  considerable  sum,"  a  town  rate  was  to  be  levied 
for  his  support.  Two  months  later  all  need  for  either 
rate  or  free  contribution  was  past.  We  are  not  in- 
formed if  Henry  Redock  furnished  the  "honorable 
Buriall,"  as  previously  agreed,  but  we  do  know  that 
he  received  a  communication  from  the  town  to  the 
effect  that  ''being  making  up  all  accountes  concern- 
ing William  Burrowes:  They  find  Fifteene  shillinges 
to  be  due  from  you:  They  doe  therefore  herby  de- 
mande  the  same  sum  desiring  the  speedy  payment 
thereof" 

Contemporary  with  the  affair  of  the  Burrows  es- 
tate was  that  of  another  property  whose  owner  died 
intestate  under  circumstances  that  must  have  fur- 
nished food  for  gossip  and  conjecture  by  every  fire- 
side in  the  township  during  the  long  winter  evenings 
of  166 1 .  Some  early  riser,  while  crossing  the  common 
lands  at  the  north  end  of  the  town,  one  cold  Decem- 
ber morning,  saw  before  him  the  figure  of  a  man 
lying  across  the  well-trodden  path,  by  the  side  of  a 
thick  clump  of  barberry  bushes.  He  hurried  forward 
to  offer  his  help,  lifted  the  prostrate  form,  and  gazed, 
horror-stricken,  into  the  well-known  face  of  his 
neighbor,  John  Clawson  the  Dutchman.  A  terrible 
blow  from  a  broad-axe  had  cloven  his  head  from 
forehead  to  chin.  Help  was  called,  and  the  poor  man 
was  carried  to  his  own  house  —  but  a  short  distance 
away  —  to  die. 

John  Clawson  was  a  Dutchman  who  had  either 


JVilliams  and  Vrovidence    69 

strayed  into  the  Narraganset  country  from  the 
Dutch  settlements  to  the  westward,  or  —  and  this 
seems  more  probable  —  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  Indians  in  some  of  their  raids  on  the  Dutch  towns 
of  Connecticut,  or  Long  Island.  At  all  events,  Roger 
Williams  gives  the  most  detailed  account  of  him,  and 
Roger  Williams  says  that  he  "sought  him  out  (by 
Natives)  and  cherished  him  in  his  lost,  naked  and 
starving  condition,"  and  further,  that  he  was  not  only 
Clawson's  master,  "and  he  my  house  hold  servant  by 
the  yeare,  but  his  school  mr,  giving  him  my  Dutch 
Testament  and  spending  much  time  to  teach  him  to 
reade."  Just  when  all  this  took  place  we  do  not 
know,  but  it  must  have  been  at  an  early  period  in  the 
annals  of  the  plantation,  for  in  1645  we  find  Clawson 
admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  those  subordinate  mem- 
bers of  the  community,  the  "twenty-five  acre  men." 
Clawson  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  a  long- 
headed, thrifty  fellow  by  habit  and  disposition. 
Skilled  workmen  were  few  and  far  between  in  that 
pioneer  settlement,  and  we  are  probably  justified  in 
assuming  that  the  Dutchman  could  earn  a  better 
livelihood  at  his  handicraft  than  by  scratching  at  the 
sandy  soil  of  Providence  Neck  in  hope  of  a  more  or 
less  precarious  harvest.  This  fact  will  account  for  the 
record  of  1659,  asserting  that  he  "for  good  Consid- 
eration .  .  .  hath  sold  unto  Richard  Prey  of  Provi- 
dence ...  all  his  Clayme,  Right,  and  Tytle  that  he 
hath  from  the  towne  of  Providence  Excepting  his 


70   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

house  Lott,  or  share  of  Land  Heing  next  to  Benjamin 
Hearnton,"  at  the  north  end  of  the  town. 

Either  Richard  Pray  failed  to  make  good  his  part 
of  the  bargain,  or  Clawson  was  sufficiently  fore- 
handed to  be  able  to  secure  a  second  tract  of  twenty- 
five  acres  within  the  next  two  years,  of  which  he  died 
possessed.  For  the  sake  of  continuity  we  may  as- 
sume the  former  alternative,  and  also  that  while  the 
sale  was  pending,  Clawson's  fellow-townsmen  — 
who  seem  to  have  been  on  far  from  friendly  terms 
with  him  —  insisted  on  a  strict  interpretation  of 
his  side  of  the  agreement.  At  all  events,  whether 
through  carelessness,  ignorance,  or  pure  disregard  of 
his  legal  obligations,  Clawson  seems  to  have  ignored 
the  fact  that  the  disposal  of  "all  his  Clayme,  Right, 
and  Tytle"  debarred  him  from  the  use  of  the  com- 
mon. He  owned  a  cow,  which  may  have  fed  on  the 
forbidden  territory.  For  that,  or  some  other  equally 
valid  reason,  his  law-abiding  neighbors  complained 
of  him  "for  makeing  use  of  the  Common,"  and  he 
was  "forthwith  forewarned"  by  the  Quarter  Court 
"to  forbare  in  any  wise  to  make  use  of  any  of  the 
Common."  That  the  Dutchman  had  reason  to  feel 
himself  aggrieved  is  evident  from  Roger  Williams's 
letter  already  quoted.  Williams  alludes  to  his  quar- 
relling "upon  Law  matters,"  to  "his  Cow,"  etc.,  in 
"other  men's  hands,"  and  to  his  "Folly  and  Fro- 
wardness,"  as  well  as  to  the  "Helpe  and  Favour" 
Clawson  had  received  from  himself. 


TVilliams  and  ^Providence    7  ^ 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  sufferer  was  cared  for  by 
his  neighbors,  the  Hearndons,  by  his  friend  and  pa- 
tron, Roger  Williams,  and  also  his  wife,  and  by 
others  who  came  to  share  the  vigil,  to  proffer  advice, 
and  to  learn  the  story  in  all  its  harrowing  details  at 
first-hand.  Although  in  a  dying  condition,  Clawson 
lingered  through  the  day,  and  as  the  long  hours  wore 
away  he  made  piteous  and  almost  hopeless  efforts  to 
speak.  The  only  words  that  could  be  distinguished 
were  these,  ''My  master  —  my  goods,"  over  and 
over  again,  and  no  questioning  could  elicit  anything 
further  in  the  way  of  explanation.  It  was  assumed  by 
Roger  Williams,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
thought  of  those  who  helped  to  care  for  the  dying 
man,  that  Clawson  was  trying  to  say  that  his  master 
should  have  his  goods,  and  on  the  strength  of  this 
assumption,  Roger  Williams  applied  for  letters  of 
administration.  The  townspeople  did  not,  however, 
fully  sympathize  with  his  point  of  view.  A  hue  and 
cry  had  been  raised,  and  an  Indian  known  as 
Waumanitt  had  been  apprehended,  —  on  just  what 
grounds,  does  not  appear.  The  town  treasury  was 
in  an  even  more  exhausted  condition  than  usual,  and 
the  murdered  man  had  left  no  relatives,  while  he 
had  left  a  house  and  lot,  "25  acres  of  upland,"  and 
certain  personal  effects.  Under  the  circumstances, 
what  could  be  more  appropriate  than  that  the  estate 
of  the  victim  should  settle  the  bills  incurred  for  the 
apprehension  and  punishment  of  his  assassin? 


7  2   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  consensus  of  public  opinion  was  doubtless  to 
the  effect  that  the  resources  and  ingenuity  of  the 
community  had  been  so  sorely  taxed  in  the  effort  to 
deal  with  the  prisoner  as  befitted  the  dignity  of  the 
law,  that  it  would  be  highly  inconsiderate  to  demand 
a  cash  outlay,  in  addition  to  the  toil  and  trouble 
already  undergone.  In  accordance  with  this  view  of 
the  case,  the  town  ordered  that  "all  ocations  of 
disburstments  concerning  John  Clawson  which  have 
already  benn,  or  yett  shall  bee  shall  be  payd  out  of 
the  aforsaid  John  Clawson  his  Estate  .  .  .  and  that 
the  Said  .  .  .  Estate  shall  be  desposed  on  byTho: 
Olney  Senior." 

The  "disburstments"  incident  to  the  custody  of 
so  important  a  criminal  were  many  and  unprece- 
dented. There  was  no  prison  in  Providence.  In 
fact  it  is  doubtful  if  there  was  a  lock  on  anything 
larger  than  the  lid  to  a  chest.  In  this  emergency,  the 
blacksmith  was  called  on  to  provide  "irons,"  with 
which  the  prisoner  might  be  confined.  This  he  did, 
at  a  cost  of  three  shillings  and  sixpence.  With  the 
criminal  thus  hampered,  and  watched  day  and  night 
by  a  guard  of  stalwart  yeomen,  at  three  shillings  a 
day  per  man,  it  was  felt  that  well-meaning  and  law- 
abiding  citizens  were  once  more  fairly  secure.  The 
town-meeting  convened  to  deal  with  the  matter  re- 
solved to  send  the  prisoner  to  Newport,  "to  the 
Collony  prison  There  to  be  kept  until  his  tyme  of 
Triall."   The  matter  of  transportation  thither  in- 


TVilliams  and  Vrovidence    7  3 

volved,  not  only  the  services  of  a  guard  and  boat's 
crew,  who  were  provided  with  "  i  pint  of  liquors  to 
carry  with  them  in  the  Boat,"  and  "powder  and 
Shott  to  carry  along  with  the  prisoner,"  but  also  "  i 
pint  of  liquors  for  the  young  men  that  lancht  the 
Boat."  Time  was  money,  even  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  as  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  boatman, 
who  "waited  one  day  and  the  prisoner  went  not," 
received  one  shilling  and  sixpence.  And  in  pursuance 
of  this  same  illuminating  principle,  the  boy  who 
went  "to  find  Will  Carpenter"  was  paid  a  shilling. 
The  cost  of  "warning  the  town  about  the  prisoner" 
was  three  shillings.  The  landlord  of  the  tavern,  or 
ordinary,  where  the  prisoner  was  lodged,  brought  in 
a  bill  for  "house-room."  There  was  also  the  matter 
of  funeral  expenses.  A  coffin,  nails  for  the  same,  and 
"2  Drop  lines,"  amounted  to  five  and  sixpence.  "A 
sheete  and  Bread  and  Cheese,"  also  "5  pints  liquors 
for  the  Buriall,"  are  duly  entered  among  the  items 
of  expenditure.  The  neighbors  who  ministered  to 
the  wounded  man  received  in  all,  £2.  19.  o.  "Sack 
and  sugar  whilst  he  lay  wounded"  was  forthcoming 
to  the  amount  of  seven  shillings  and  threepence.  His 
debts  were  paid,  and  came  to  thirteen  shillings. 

As  for  the  prisoner,  —  whom  we  have  seen 
"lancht"  on  his  way  to  Newport,  —  deponent 
further  saith  not.  There  is  no  record  of  his  arrival 
at  "the  Collony  prison,"  nor  of  the  return  of  the 
guard.    In  the  absence  of  all  definite  information 


74   Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

respecting  the  true  culprit  and  the  motive  for  the 
crime,  tradition  took  up  the  tale.  According  to  this 
creditable  source  of  information,  a  feud  existed  be- 
tween Clawson  and  his  neighbor,  Benjamin  Hearn- 
don.  It  was  Hearndon  who  lay  in  wait  for  his  victim 
behind  the  barberry  thicket,  and  felled  him  with  his 
broad-axe,  —  not  so  quickly,  however,  but  that 
Clawson,  as  he  fell,  recognized  his  assailant.  When 
the  efforts  of  his  neighbors  had  roused  him  from  the 
stunned  condition  in  which  he  was  brought  home,  he 
uttered  a  curse  against  the  Hearndons,  wishing  that 
all  of  that  name  might  be  marked  with  split  chins, 
and  haunted  by  barberry  bushes.  "And,"  said  the 
gossips,  "every  one  knows  that  the  Hearndons  have 
cleft  chins  to  this  day." 

It  was  not  until  June  that  Thomas  Olney,  Senior, 
was  able  to  bring  in  his  "Accountes  .  .  .  concerning 
the  Estate  of  John  Clawson  deceased.  What  hee 
Received  in,  And  what  hee  paid  out."  Under  the 
last-named  heading  belongs  the  item,  "to  my  selfe 
for  disburstments  £\.  ii.  2." 

In  the  mean  time,  Clawson's  personal  property 
had  been  carefully  inventoried,  item  by  item,  by  two 
painstaking  appraisers,  one  of  whom  was  Thomas 
Olney,  Junior.  Their  services  were  estimated  at  two 
shillings  each.  The  most  valuable  of  Clawson's  pos- 
sessions was  peage,  or  Indian  shell-money,  to  the 
amount  oi  £'].  13.  9.  His  winter  supply  of  grain, 
"  14  Bushells  of  Corne  and  Pease,"  came  x.o£'^.  12.  2. 


Document  of  1669 

Signed  by  William  Carpenter,  William  Harris,  Thomas 
Olney,  Jr.,  Thomas  Harris,  Thomas  Olney,  Sr.,  and  John 
Whipple.  From  the  original  in  Moses  Brown  Papers,  vol. 
18,  p.  69,  in  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


.[ov,e;  ...... -,....   ,.i   .t)lqqjrl7/ 

^,  IconoJeiH  bnr.Ial  ofavixiH  ni  ,Qd  .q  ,8i 


f>#GlS£ 


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ii'ia'^lh^? 


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<g\^ 


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.  ^ 


--v-^' 


^^'M 

^^*.j^^/; 


^mm^i^ 


TVilliams  and  "Providence    7S 

These  items,  and  his  kit  of  carpenter's  tools,  valued 
at  £i.  15.  4,  very  nearly  made  up  the  sum  total 
of  the  poor  man's  worldly  goods.  His  twenty-five 
acres  of  upland  were  set  down  at  £1.  10.  o,  and  the 
"howse  and  Lott"  at  twenty  pounds.  His  admin- 
istrator's balance-sheet  shows  £i,'j.  17.  4  on  the 
credit  side  of  the  account,  and  expenditures  amount- 
ing to  ;^38.  14.  o,  "so  that  there  Remaines  due  unto 
Tho:  Olney  £0.  16.  8:  to  be  paid  unto  him,  by  Roger 
Williams,"  the  town  record  concludes. 

When  the  administration  of  Clawson's  personal 
property  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  astute 
Thomas  Olney,  Senior,  with  instructions  to  "despose 
on"  it,  his  real  estate  was  turned  over  to  Roger 
Williams,  as  residuary  legatee,  so  to  speak.  This 
property  consisted  of  "A  howse  Lott  And  Also  the 
Land  which  Lieth  neere  unto  a  Salt  Cove."  The 
Dutchman's  "howse  &  Lott"  remained  in  Roger 
Williams's  possession  until  1669,  when  he  sold  them 
to  Clawson's  old  neighbor,  Benjamin  Hearndon,  for 
"the  full  Summe  of  Eleaven  pounds  of  Currant 
Countrey  pay,"  to  be  paid  in  three  yearly  instal- 
ments of  five  pounds,  three  pounds,  and  three 
pounds,  respectively.  The  delivery  was  to  be  made 
"in  Cloth  and  stockings,  and  Corne,  and  Aples,  at 
the  Comon  and  usuall  price."  Even  under  these 
conditions,  which  do  not  seem  extraordinarily  severe, 
it  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1675  that  Hearndon's 
debt  was  cancelled. 


7  6   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Thomas  Olney,  Senior,  who  figures  so  prominently 
in  the  disbursements  on  account  of  the  Clawson 
estate,  was  a  man  of  considerable  local  importance  in 
this  early  period  of  the  town's  history.  And  as  the 
years  roll  by,  it  will  be  interesting  to  watch  his 
descendants  play  their  parts  on  an  historic  stage 
presenting  a  wider  field  of  action.  The  first  Thomas 
Olney  came  to  Salem  with  his  wife  and  children  in 
1635.  Three  years  later,  he  was  advised  to  depart 
from  Massachusetts ;  and  thereupon  turned  his  steps 
towards  Providence,  where  he  arrived  in  time  to  be 
enrolled  among  the  thirteen  original  proprietors.  A 
few  months  afterwards  he  was  found  among  the  little 
group  who  formed  the  Baptist  Church,  and  we  are 
told  by  the  historian  of  that  denomination  that  after 
Roger  Williams's  withdrawal,  Olney,  as  first  elder, 
ministered  to  that  "part  of  the  Church  who  were 
called  Five  Principle  Baptists."  He  signed  the  arbi- 
tration compact  of  1640,  although  his  subsequent 
career  indicates  that  his  belief  in  arbitration  was 
theoretical  rather  than  practical.  He  carried  on  the 
trade  of  a  shoemaker,  as  well  as  that  of  a  tanner,  and 
was  likewise  a  surveyor  of  much  practical  experience, 
as  the  town  records  abundantly  testify. 

As  a  proprietor  of  Providence,  and  one  of  the 
group  of  thirteen,  subsequently  known  as  "the 
Pawtuxet  purchasers,"  Olney's  interest  led  him  to 
cooperate  with  William  Harris,  in  the  latter's  en- 
deavors to  carry  through  his  famous  land  deal  so  as 


JVilliams  and  "Providence    11 

to  bring  the  additional  territory  acquired  by  the  con- 
firmatory grant  of  1659  into  the  possession  of  the 
Pawtuxet  men.  Olney's  effective  knowledge  of  po- 
litical methods  was  gained  by  long  experience  in  the 
service  of  both  town  and  colony.  It  was  during  the 
interim  when  it  seemed  probable  that  the  first  charter 
might  be  annulled  that  his  preference  for  the  law  of 
the  primitive  individual  —  that  "he  shall  take  who 
has  the  power,  and  he  shall  keep  who  can"  —  first 
found  scope  for  action.  In  the  first  General  Court  of 
the  reunited  colony  he  was  accused  of  a  "risinge  or 
takinge  up  of  armes  to  the  oposeinge  of  authority." 
Whether  this  act  of  overt  rebellion  had  any  connec- 
tion, direct  or  indirect,  with  the  treasonable  publica- 
tion of  his  partner  in  the  Pawtuxet  purchase  (William 
Harris),  we  are  not  told,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
both  of  these  men,  "and  others,"  were  implicated  in 
the  charge  above  specified.  The  affair  is  described  in 
the  town  records  as  "a  tumult  and  disturbance  in  the 
winter  under  a  pretence  of  voluntarie  training,"  con- 
cerning which  there  was  "greate  debate,"  at  the  time 
of  writing.  Through  the  pacific  influence  of  Roger 
Williams,  who  acted  as  moderator  in  more  than  the 
technical  sense  of  the  word,  "it  was  at  last  concluded 
.  .  .  that  for  the  Colony's  sake  .  .  .  and  for  the 
publike  union  and  peace  sake  it  should  be  past  By 
and  no  more  mentioned." 

"Union  and  Peace"  served  Roger  Williams  as  a 
sufficient  motive  to  ignore  the  past  when  dealing  w  ith 


7  8   Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

a  breach  of  law  and  order  in  the  Towne  Street,  but  a 
bit  of  legal  trickery,  amounting  to  nothing  less  than  a 
land-grabbing  scheme  at  the  expense  of  the  ignorant 
Indians  who  had  trusted  him  and  his  friends,  was  to 
him  an  infamous  wrong  which  cried  aloud  for  justice, 
and  which  he  was  bound  to  oppose  to  the  utmost 
extent  of  his  ability.  Backed  by  his  townsmen, 
Gregory  Dexter  and  Arthur  Fenner,  he  so  far  suc- 
ceeded in  thwarting  the  combination  led  by  Harris, 
in  the  proprietary  interest,  as  to  defeat  every  attempt 
to  set  off  the  town  of  Pawtuxet  from  that  of  Provi- 
dence. Until  this  was  done,  the  newly  acquired  lands 
could  not  be  divided  among  the  Pawtuxet  purchas- 
ers, since  the  two  settlements  formed  one  township. 

Gregory  Dexter,  who  was  formerly  a  stationer  and 
printer  of  London,  had  been  given  a  proprietor's  lot 
on  the  Towne  Street,  at  the  extreme  north  end.  He 
did  not  arrive  at  the  settlement  until  1640.  Roger 
Williams's  characterization  of  him  as  *'a  man  of 
education,  and  of  a  noble  calling,  and  versed  in  mili- 
taries," who  ''might  well  be  moderator  or  general 
deputy  or  general  assistant,"  but  who  "made  a  fool 
of  conscience,"  is  well  known.  That  same  eminent 
authority  speaks  of  him  elsewhere  as  "an  intelligent 
man  .  .  .  and  conscionable  (though  a  Baptist) 
therefore  maligned  and  traduced  by  William  Harris 
...  he  hath  a  lusty  team  and  lusty  sons,  and  very 
willing  heart  (being  a  sanguine  cheerful  man)."  He 
was  not  without  rhetorical  powers,  and  we  are  told 


Willi ams  and  Trovidence     79 

that  he  was  a  preacher  before  he  came  to  America ; 
nor  was  he  wanting  in  poHtical  ability. 

When  acting  as  town-clerk,  in  1653,  Dexter  exer- 
cised his  literary  gifts  in  the  composition  of  a  treatise 
entitled  "An  Instrument,  or  soveraign  Plaister,  to 
heale  the  many  fold  presant  soares  in  this  Towne  or 
plantation  of  providence,  wch  do  arise  about  our 
lands,"  and  took  advantage  of  his  official  position 
as  keeper  of  the  town  records  to  insert  this  forcible 
statement  of  his  views  in  their  pages.  In  1667,  the 
document  in  question  was  gravely  presented  to  a 
town-meeting,  convened  by  the  Fenner-Dexter 
faction,  and  solemnly  ordered  to  be  placed  on  the 
town  records,  —  its  unauthorized  abiding-place  for 
the  previous  fourteen  years.  The  "Plaister"  was 
prompdy  pronounced  to  be  "poysonous"  by  Harris 
and  his  friends,  and  the  author  to  be  an  '<  active  lead- 
ing Instruement "  whose  "underminings,"  as  also 
those  of  Roger  Williams  and  Arthur  Fenner,  are 
"breefly  discovered"  in  a  "declaration"  of  about 
two  thousand  words.  A  counterblast  of  indignant 
eloquence  stigmatizes  Harris's  statement  as  a  "  noto- 
rious Slander,"  and  the  writer  as  one  "who  loveth 
strife." 

In  Arthur  Fenner  the  Williams  contingent  poss- 
essed a  shrewd  and  practical  ally,  whose  words  were 
few,  and  whose  deeds  bear  out  the  above  assertion. 
He  was  the  eldest  of  three  brothers,  who  are  said  to 
have  been  the  sons  of  a  Connecticut  Indian  trader. 


8o   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

They  came  to  Providence  in  or  near  1647.  Tradition 
credits  Arthur  Fenner  with  a  lieutenant's  commission 
in  Cromwell's  army,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  he 
had  seen  military  service  somewhere  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  display  of  mihtary  qualifi- 
cations was  not  frequently  required  in  his  new  home, 
but  his  decision  of  character  and  promptitude  in 
action,  not  unmixed  with  a  fair  share  of  strategic 
ability,  were  quite  as  valuable  assets  in  the  colony's 
balance-sheet.  In  the  time  of  King  Philip's  War  he 
became  Captain  Arthur  Fenner.  Although  he  built 
a  house  on  Providence  Neck,  on  the  property  long 
known  as  "the  Fenner  estate,"  on  the  present  Gov- 
ernor Street,  his  dwelling-place,  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  time  while  he  lived  in  Providence,  was  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Great  Salt  River.  This  "farm  in  the 
woods"  was  built,  probably,  in  1655,  and  stood  in 
the  present  suburb  of  Cranston. 

Matters  regarding  the  Pawtuxet  purchase  tended 
slowly,  and  by  no  means  peacefully,  towards  a  crisis. 
A  suit  against  the  town  of  Warwick,  followed  by  a 
rehearing,  and  that,  in  turn,  by  an  action  for  trespass 
against  a  certain  John  Harrud,  filled  the  colony 
courts  with  litigation ;  while  a  series  of  wrangles  over 
the  question  of  the  dividing-line  between  Providence 
and  Pawtuxet  absorbed  the  time  and  energy  of  every 
town-meeting.  At  length  Harris  went  to  England, 
and  obtained  an  order  for  a  special  court  to  try  the 
case.  The  court  sat  in  1677,  and  gave  a  verdict  in 


TVilliams  and  "Providence     8 1 

Harris's  favor.  But  the  execution  of  that  same  ver- 
dict depended  on  Arthur  Fenner,  who  was  appointed 
to  run  the  line  of  division  between  Providence  and 
Pawtuxet.  This  he  did,  and  so  adroitly  as  to  give  to 
the  Pawtuxet  men  precisely  what  they  had  been  en- 
titled to  before  the  additional  grants  of  1659  were 
obtained. 

The  inevitable  rehearing  followed.  Again  Harris 
journeyed  to  London,  and  again  he  was  successful. 
But  when  the  time  came  for  taking  possession  of  the 
coveted  territory,  unforeseen  obstacles  and  uncertain 
interpretations  obliged  the  intrepid  ''purchaser"  to 
cross  the  ocean  a  third  time.  This  last  unhappy 
voyage  resulted  in  the  loss  of  his  cause,  and  ulti- 
mately of  his  life  as  well.  The  ship  in  which  he  sailed 
was  taken  by  the  Barbary  pirates,  her  passengers 
were  carried  to  Algiers,  and  there  sold  as  slaves,  to 
be  held  for  ransom.  The  necessary  sum  was  raised, 
but  not  until  after  a  delay  which  reflected  little  credit 
on  Harris's  family,  in  the  eyes  of  their  contempo- 
raries. Francis  Brinley  wrote  from  Newport  to  Mrs. 
Harris:  "You  and  yours  lie  under  the  hard  thoughts 
of  many  .  .  .  by  your  refusing  to  comply  with  those 
that  were  stirred  up  to  lay  down  their  monies  for  that 
end."  After  a  captivity  of  about  a  year,  the  ransom 
was  paid,  and  the  aged  sufferer  —  then  over  seventy 
—  set  free.  It  was  too  late.  The  poor  man  was 
broken  down  by  age  and  harsh  treatment,  and  died 
within  a  few  days  of  his  arrival  in  London. 


8  2    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

After  the  disappearance  of  William  Harris  from 
the  scene  of  action,  the  cause  of  the  Pawtuxet  pur- 
chasers died  a  natural  death.  At  various  times  dur- 
ing the  next  twenty  years  petitions  were  brought  to 
the  notice  of  the  Crown  and  its  representatives,  but 
no  further  action  was  taken  in  the  matter.  The  words 
of  the  colony's  agent,  in  1705,  state  the  condition 
of  affairs  symbolically,  yet  tersely.  He  says:  "My 
lawyer  tells  me  that  he  fears  it  [a  new  preparation  of 
the  case]  will  be  like  dressing  a  cowcumber  with 
oyle  and  vinegar,  pepper  and  salt,  and  then  throwing 
it  upon  the  dunghill.  That  is  to  say,  he  doubts  that 
when  you  have  done  all,  the  great  length  of  time  that 
this  case  has  been  depending  (about  47  years)  will  be 
a  stumbling  block  in  your  way  never  to  be  got  over." 

Long  before  the  eighteenth  century  set  in,  matters 
had  amicably  adjusted  themselves  on  the  Towne  \ 
Street  of  Providence.  The  valiant  Captain  Arthur 
had  "  tamed  his  heart  of  fire,"  and  placed  his  chast- 
ened affections  in  the  safe  keeping  of  Howlong 
Harris,  the  daughter  of  the  tenacious  William,  while 
the  co-worker  of  Harris,  the  redoubtable  Thomas 
Olney,  Senior,  had  married  his  daughter  Lydia  to 
Joseph,  the  youngest  son  of  his  old  antagonist,  Roger 
Williams. 

Howlong  Harris  was  not  only  a  capable  and  at- 
tractive young  woman,  but  from  a  worldly  point  of 
view  she  was  a  match  worthy  the  serious  consideration 
of  any  man  of  thrift  and  foresight.    Nor  were  there 


TVilliams  and  "Providence     8  3 

lacking  young  men  of  sufficient  discernment  to  be 
aware  of  the  fact.  In  the  early  summer  of  1681,  the 
banns  for  her  marriage  with  John  Pococke,  a  lawyer 
of  Newport,  had  been  published.  Evidently  the 
form  of  consulting  the  young  lady's  parents  had  been 
omitted,  for  at  this  point  her  mother  interfered  and 
forbade  the  marriage,  giving  as  a  reason  that  she 
wished  to  consult  her  husband,  then  absent  in  Eng- 
land, regarding  the  matter.  This  stay  in  the  proceed- 
ings proved,  for  some  reason  which  we  do  not  know, 
an  insurmountable  obstacle.  Mrs.  Harris  died  in  the 
following  year,  but  Howlong  retained  her  maiden 
freedom  until  1684  when  she  became  Arthur  Fen- 
ner's  second  wife.  Nor  did  she  come  to  the  altar 
empty-handed.  By  her  father's  "last  will  and  testa- 
ment," drawn  up  just  before  his  departure  for  Eng- 
land, his  daughter  Howlong  was  given  one  third  of 
his  farm  of  seven  hundred  acres,  with  meadows 
"thereto  adjoyneing,"  and  the  prospect  of  another 
portion  of  the  estate,  on  the  death  of  her  mother.  The 
inventory  of  the  testator's  personal  effects  displays 
to  us  every  article  contained  in  the  house  and  out- 
buildings. Nothing  seems  too  trivial  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  appraisers.  If  an  object  is  of  no 
value,  that  fact  is  formally  stated,  as  "Severall  refuse 
paper  bookes  not  worth  valluing." 

The  farm  of  William  Harris,  one  of  the  few  well- 
to-do  citizens  of  Providence,  was,  in  1682,  stocked 
with  two  mares  and  one  colt,  six  steers,  three  heifers, 


8  4    ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

two  young  cows,  and  one  old  cow.  Farming-tools 
were  there,  to  the  extent  of  a  plough,  a  grindstone, 
"2  old  broad  hoes,  and  one  Narrow  hoe,"  two  shov- 
els, and  a  spade.  "Severall  Stacks  of  hay  Standing 
by  the  Meadow  Side"  form  one  of  the  larger  items. 
The  house  furnishings  were  numerous  and  varied. 
Beds,  bedsteads,  and  bedding  are  carefully  desig- 
nated, "i  Feather  Bedd,  and  Bolster"  was  valued 
at  £\.  *'  I  Feather  bedd  and  a  bolster,  old  and  much 
worne,"  £\.  5.  o.  It  must  have  been  a  stirring  house- 
hold, with  little  expectation  of  visitors,  for  in  the 
entire  dwelling  there  were  but  two  chairs.  A  "settle 
Bedd  studd"  is  mentioned  as  being  "in  the  cellar," 
where  we  must  suppose  it  would  hardly  serve  for 
sitting  accommodation.  Perhaps  the  various  chests, 
one  "with  a  lock  upon  it,"  one  described  as  "A  little 
old  sea  Chest,"  and  one  "Coulered  black,"  were 
pressed  into  service  as  the  occasion  demanded. 

That  centre  of  household  activity,  the  kitchen, 
fared  better.  "2  Brasse  Kettles,  i  old  Brasse  Kettle, 
A  Copper  porenger,  one  Iron  Kettle,  i  fryeing  pann," 
tongs,  bellows,  candlesticks,  tubs,  and  pails  are 
found.  The  table  was  set  forth  with  wooden  platters, 
trenchers,  bowls,  bottles,  ladles,  and  spoons.  Pewter 
was  there,  but  not  in  profusion,  "i  Earthen  Pann" 
and  "a  Tinn  pudding  pan"  appear.  Drinks  were 
served  in  a  great  variety  of  receptacles,  whatever  may 
be  said  of  the  beverages  themselves.  "  i  pewter 
pottle  pott,  I  wine  quart  pott,  i  Tanker  quart  pott, 


Petition  drawn  by  William  Harris,  September 
17,  1677,  directed  to  Gov.  Josiah  Winslow 

From  original  in  Harris  Papers,  p.  91,  in  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society. 


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TVilliams  and  "Providence     85 

I  Tanker  pint  pott  without  a  lidd,  i  old  wine  pint 
pot,  I  wine  halfe  pint  pot,  i  Gill  pot,  and  a  half  Gill 
pot,  and  6  Glasse  bottles,"  and  a  second  "pewter 
pottle  pott"  would  certainly  suffice  to  dispense  the 
"2  barrills  of  winter  Sidar,"  and  the  "2  barrills  of 
summer  Sidar"  which  stocked  the  wine-cellar. 

The  really  noteworthy  item  is,  however,  the  books 
which  belonged  to  Harris.  He  owned  twenty-six 
volumes,  and  of  these,  eleven  are  works  treating  of 
law.  Several  are  religious  in  tone,  and  others  are 
distinctly  secular.  We  find  T^he  Gentleman  jocky 
elbowing  The  Gospell  preacher,  while  Norwoods 
Tryangles  stands  side  by  side  with  The  Chirurgions 
Mate.  It  is  evidently  the  library  of  a  self-taught  man, 
prone  to  litigation,  who  finds  no  nut  too  hard  to  yield 
to  his  cracking.  The  above  is  a  collection  of  books 
unequalled  in  the  Providence  of  that  day.  The  entire 
personal  estate  was  appraised  at  £14.7-  12.  8.  We 
may  express  its  value  in  terms  of  "current  country 
pay"  by  saying  that  it  would  purchase  seventy-four 
head  of  cattle,  or  as  many  horses.  The  landed 
property  estimated  by  the  assessors'  price-list  for 
1679  was  worth  from  three  to  four  pounds  an  acre. 

Thomas  OIney,  Senior,  whose  daughter  married 
Joseph  Williams,  died  in  1682.  His  legacy  to  his  son- 
in-law  consisted  of  "all  my  part  in  the  yoake  of  oxen 
which  is  now  betweene  us."  The  remaining  cattle, 
together  with  his  "moveable  goods,"  were  to  be 
"Equally  devided  into  3  parts,"  of  which  "Liddea 


86   Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Williams"  was  to  receive  one.  The  remaining  cattle 
appear  to  be  represented  by  "4  Cowes,  in  the  de- 
ceased Tho:  Olneys  yard,"  valued  at  ten  pounds. 
His  house  contained  a  parlor,  kitchen,  hall  chamber, 
and  "old  bed  room,"  but  since  the  parlor  furniture 
included,  in  addition  to  a  varied  assortment  of  bed- 
room and  kitchen  articles,  "3  Cart  boxes,  i  lince  pinn 
and  a  washer,"  we  may  judge  that  it  was  so  called 
by  courtesy,  rather  than  from  usage.  Since  Olney 
followed  the  trade  of  a  tanner,  we  are  not  surprised 
to  find  a  large  part  of  his  "moveable"  estate  under 
the  item  "Dryhides  in  all  the  places  where  they  lye." 
Among  his  household  furniture  were  "2  old  joynt 
Chaires,  and  a  joynt  stoole,  i  Create  Chaire,  i  smale 
Table,"  one  pair  of  tongs,  and  one  of  "And  Irons." 
His  stock  of  glassware  was  not  inconsiderable  for 
that  day.  He  had  "  i  quart  Glasse  bottle,  a  halfe 
pint  Glasse  bottle  and  a  Cann,"  and  "3  Square 
bottles."  He  also  possessed  an  assortment  of  brass 
and  iron  ketdes,  brass  candlesticks,  pewter  pots, 
platters,  spoons,  and  cups,  a  goodly  supply  of  bed 
linen,  and  a  creditable  number  of  "Table  Cloaths" 
and  napkins.  Besides  "one  Bible,"  and  "3  old  peeces 
of  Bibles,"  his  library  was  comprised  in  "3  Bookes 
namely  Ainsworths  Annotations^  A  Concordance, 
&  fishers  Ashford  Dispute,''  His  entire  estate 
amounted  to^yS.  9.  5.  "If  no  mistake  be  in  Casting 
up,"  wrote  the  cautious  appraisers. 

In  the  midst  of  the  "terrible  burning  fits,"  which. 


Williams  and  Trovidence      87 

said  Roger  Williams,  set  Providence  "all  on  fire  .  .  . 
about  our  Lines,"  there  befell  the  tragedy  of  King 
Philip's  War.  The  scourge  swept  through  the  settle- 
ments of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  and  Connecticut, 
nor  did  Rhode  Island  escape.  Comparatively  few  of 
her  settlers  lost  their  lives,  but  great  damage  was 
done  to  their  farms  and  cattle.  Warwick  was  burned, 
and  a  large  part  of  Providence  destroyed.  Philip  (or 
Metacomet)  became  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags  on 
the  death  of  his  brother,  Alexander,  in  1662.  What- 
ever traditional  ideas  of  revenge  for  his  brother's 
death,  or  of  driving  the  white  man  from  his  path, 
may  ultimately  have  animated  him,  the  first  nine 
years  of  his  ascendancy  were  chiefly  remarkable  for 
the  rapidity  with  which  he  sold  off  the  lands  of  his 
tribe  to  any  town,  or  individual,  able  and  willing  to 
furnish  coats,  hoes,  beads,  jew's-harps,  guns,  ammu- 
nition, and  rum,  in  return.    In  1667,  the  war  with 
Holland  brought  unusually  large  supplies  of  arms 
and  ammunition  into  the  country,  of  which  the  In- 
dians doubtless  obtained  a  fair  proportion,  and  con- 
sequently "their  activity  and  insolence  is  grown  so 
high,"  says  Roger  Williams,  writing  to  the  Court  of 
Magistrates  at  Boston,  "that  they  daily  consult,  and 
hope,  and  threaten  to  render  us  slaves." 

From  the  above  date  to  1675,  when  hostilities  actu- 
ally broke  out,  matters  were  in  a  state  of  slow  fer- 
mentation. "Honest  John  Easton"  succincdy  de- 
scribes the  situation : "  So  the  English  were  afraid  and 


8  8    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Philip  was  afraid,  and  both  increased  in  Arms."  In 
the  latter  part  of  June,  1675,  Philip  and  his  braves 
burned  a  few  houses  at  Swansea,  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  and  then  retreated  northward  before  the 
English  soldiery,  to  the  town  of  Mendon.  In  Sep- 
tember, Deerfield  was  destroyed,  and  a  series  of 
raids  on  the  towns  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  went  on 
during  the  fall  months.  Early  in  the  summer,  efforts 
had  been  made  by  Massachusetts,  through  Roger 
Williams,  to  induce  the  Narragansets  to  sign  a  treaty 
which  should  deprive  the  Wampanoags  of  the  sup- 
port of  that  powerful  tribe,  now  well  provided  with 
firearms,  and  numbering  two  thousand  fighting  men 
under  the  leadership  of  Canochet,  the  son  of  Roger 
Williams's  old  friend,  Miantonomi. 

Friendly  protestations  were  readily  obtained,  and 
in  profusion,  but  the  summer  was  half  over  before 
anything  in  the  way  of  a  treaty  was  forthcoming. 
Such  as  it  was,  the  document  bore  the  signatures  of 
men  of  small  importance,  whose  act  would  have 
little  weight  with  the  warriors  of  the  tribe.  William 
Harris  has  given  an  account  of  the  attitude  of  the 
Narragansets  at  this  time.  He  says  that  Philip's  men 
took  refuge  with  the  Narragansets,  who  *' entered 
into  articles  to  deliver  phillips  men  .  .  .  but  did 
not";  that  on  the  contrary,  they  "made  large  pre- 
tences of  peace,  intending  nothing  less;  but  they 
thought  they  should  by  a  sudden  war  lose  theyr  har- 
vest; that  then  it  would  soone  disable  them  to  con- 


JVilliams  and  'Providence    89 

tinew  the  war."  Once  the  harvest  gathered,  and  laid 
away  in  the  secret  storehouses,  underground,  the  In- 
dians would  have  ample  provision  for  the  winter,  and 
could  be  let  loose  over  the  country  as  soon  as  the 
snows  should  have  disappeared. 

At  all  events,  this  was  the  reasoning  of  the  English 
colonists,  and  acting  thereon,  the  combined  forces  of 
Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts,  together 
with  a  few  Rhode-Island  men,  rendezvoused  at 
Tower  Hill  (in  the  present  South  Kingston)  one  bit- 
terly cold  December  night.  "  It  frose  that  night  very 
hard,"  writes  Harris.  From  Tower  Hill  the  little 
army  marched  to  surprise  the  ancient  Narraganset 
stronghold,  some  three  or  four  miles  distant.  This 
well-known  monument  of  Indian  engineering  skill 
was  situated  in  the  middle  of  a  large  swamp,  which 
was  in  itself  the  most  formidable  of  the  defences  of 
the  fort.  The  surface  of  the  swamp  was  frozen  hard 
by  the  severe  frost,  and  the  English  found  the  fort  in 
the  centre  far  from  unassailable.  It  was  not  cap- 
tured, however,  without  considerable  sharp  fighting. 
Harris  says:  "  The  English  shewed  very  much  Val- 
lour;  runing  up  to  the  mussells  of  the  guns  and  to 
theyr  porte  holes ;  firing  into  theyr  forte,  leaping  over 
theyr  brestworkes,  and  into  theyr  fort,  turning  the 
but  ends  of  theyr  guns  sometimes."  A  large  number 
of  Indians  —  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  —  were 
killed  in  the  fight,  and  probably  three  times  as  many 
were  made  prisoners.  In  the  words  of  the  estimable 


90    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Doctor  Increase  Mather,  there  were  "two  and  sev- 
enty Indian  Captains  slain,  all  of  them,  and  brought 
down  to  Hell  in  one  day."  Sixty-eight  of  the  English 
were  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  wounded. 

Probably  the  effective  force  of  the  Narragansets  was 
not  seriously  crippled.  The  moral  effect  was  no  doubt 
great,  and  the  loss  of  their  carefully  stored  provisions 
was  a  very  grave  misfortune.  Many  of  the  Indian 
granaries  in  the  Narraganset  country  were,  after  the 
fight,  discovered  and  destroyed,  and  their  owners 
must  have  suffered  much  from  lack  of  food.  Never- 
theless, their  retaliatory  measures  made  the  following 
year  a  stirring  time  for  their  English  neighbors.  All 
pretence  of  adherence  to  treaty  obligations  vanished 
with  the  smoke  of  the  ruined  stronghold.  Harris  says 
that  after  this  time  "many  mischeifs  were  done  upon 
many  townes  of  the  massachusetts,  to  the  los  of  many 
soules." 

When  the  Narragansets,  the  traditional  friends  of 
the  Providence  Plantation,  went  on  the  war  path, 
the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  was  obliged  to  face  a  pe- 
culiarly exposed  position.  Not  only  had  the  long 
and  unbroken  peace  with  the  Indians  precluded  all 
necessity  for  that  unsleeping  watchfulness,  ever  on 
the  lookout  for  an  unexpected  onslaught,  which 
characterized  the  life  of  many  New-England  settle- 
ments ;  the  very  government  of  the  colony  of  Rhode 
Island,  with  its  command  of  resources  and  authority 
to  act  in  emergencies,  had  recently  passed  into  the 


Williams  and  Trovidence    9 1 

hands  of  men  whose  religious  creed  expUcitly  forbade 
them  "to  trayne,  to  learne  to  fight,  to  war,  or  to  kill 
any  person  or  persons."  Only  three  years  earlier  the 
Quaker  Assembly  had  put  their  principles  on  record 
in  the  above  words.  True,  it  was  permitted  to  "all 
those  who  are  perswaded  in  their  understanding  and 
conscience,  that  it  is  lawfull  and  noe  sin  againstGod, 
to  kill,"  etc.,  to  do  the  same,  but  drastic  preparatory 
measures  to  ward  off  an  Indian  attack  could  hardly 
be  expected  from  such  a  legislative  body,  the  major- 
ity of  whose  propertied  members  were  housed  in 
comparative  safety  on  the  island  of  Aquidneck. 

The  question  of  defence  was  mooted  as  early  as 
the  fall  preceding  the  Great  Swamp  Fight,  near 
Tower  Hill.  "The  dangerous  hurries  with  the  Indi- 
ans," and  the  necessity  for  putting  the  colony  "  in  a 
suitable  posture  of  defence"  were  discussed,  and  the 
Assembly  decided  to  "referr  the  consideration  and 
conclusion  of  the  matter  unto  the  Councillof  Warr  in 
each  Towne."  Then  came  a  lull,  broken  by  the  fight 
of  December  19,  with  its  disastrous  consequences. 
In  January,  the  Indians  raided  Pawtuxet,  where 
they  did  much  damage,  burning  corn  and  hay,  and 
driving  off  sheep,  cattle,  and  horses.  In  this  raid  the 
youngest  son  of  William  Harris  — Toleration  Harris 
—  was  killed.  The  father  mourned  him  long  and 
deeply.  In  his  last  will  he  left  instructions  that  his 
farm  should  "be  called  Mourning,  as  a  monument  of 
the  death  of  my  deare  son  Tolleration  Harris."  In 


92    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

his  account  of  the  war,  aheady  quoted,  he  says:  "I 
have  lost  a  deer  son ;  a  dilligent  engenlous  Just  man ; 
temperate  in  all  things,  whom  the  Indians  lay  in  wait 
for  by  the  way  syd  and  killed  him,  and  a  negro  man, 
and  burnt  our  houses,  and  drove  away  aboute  50 
head  of  Cowkind  cattell,  and  4  score  horsekinde  of 
ours,  and  carryed  away  some  goods,  and  burnt  about 
50  loads  of  hay." 

Shortly  after  the  Swamp  Fight  the  troops  of  the 
united  colonies  were  withdrawn  from  the  Narra- 
ganset  country,  leaving  a  garrison  of  seventy  men 
in  a  block-house  of  our  old  acquaintance,  Richard 
Smith,  the  Indian  trader.  Their  stay  was  of  short 
duration.  The  Council  at  Boston  decided  on  their 
withdrawal,  and  a  letter  written  at  Boston,  in  the 
following  July,  narrates  that  "the  very  next  Day 
after  their  Departure,  the  Indians  came  and  burnt 
the  said  Garrison-house  (one  of  the  most  delightful 
Seats  in  New-England)  and  another  House  of  the 
said  Captain  Smiths  at  Saugau  [near  Wickford, 
where  Roger  Williams  often  stayed]  .  .  .  and  the 
Day  following  assulted  Warwick  with  so  unhappy  a 
Successe  that  they  burnt  most  of  the  Houses  there." 
We  can  appreciate  Richard  Smith's  reflections  when 
he  wrote:  "We  are  nowe  governed  by  Mens  Wills 
and  most  of  them  Quakers,  and  of  such  and  worse 
does  Rhode  Island  consist." 

The  apprehensions  of  the  Providence  settlers  had 
been  aroused  long  before  the  "unhappy  success" 


JVilliams  and  "Providence    93 

just  related.  In  the  preceding  October  the  Provi- 
dence town-meeting  was  sufficiently  alive  to  the 
uncertainties  of  the  situation  to  order  that  a  recon- 
noitring force  of  six  men  should  be  "sentt  out  of  the 
town  Every  day  to  discover  what  Indeanes  shal  come 
to  disquiat  the  towne."  This  action  was  almost 
simultaneous  with  the  advice  tendered  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  the  towns  of  the  colony,  namely, 
that  they  should  protect  themselves. 

As  we  should  expect,  such  evidence  as  exists  re- 
specting defensive  operations  on  the  part  of  Provi- 
dence indicates  that  they  were  initiated  by  Roger 
Williams.  Notwithstanding  his  age  and  failing 
health,  he  held  the  position  of  captain  of  the  "  Traine 
Band,"  and  we  may  rest  assured  it  was  no  sinecure. 
The  following  letter  is  undated,  but  we  can  hardly 
err  in  ascribing  to  it  a  date  shortly  following  the  raids 
in  the  Pawtuxet  Valley.  The  letter  runs :  "  I  pray  the 
town,  in  the  sense  of  the  late  bloody  practices  of  the 
natives,  to  give  leave  to  so  many  as  can  agree  with 
William  Field,  to  bestow  some  charge  upon  fortifying 
his  house,  for  the  security  of  the  women  and  children. 
Also  to  give  me  leave,  to  put  up  some  defence  on  the 
hill,  between  the  mill  and  the  highway,  for  the  like 
safety  of  the  women  and  children  in  that  part  of  the 
town."  William  Field's  l^ouse  stood  on  his  home 
lot,  a  little  south  of  the  present  Great  Bridge.  It 
was  fortified,  doubtless  after  a  primitive  sort  of 
fashion,  and  served  as  a  refuge  for  the  handful  of 


94   Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

townsmen  who  eventually  awaited  the  onslaught 
of  the  savages. 

By  March,  an  attack  appeared  so  Imminent,  and 
the  ability  to  resist  it  so  insufficient,  that  those  in 
authority,  led  by  Cromwell's  former  man-at-arms, 
Arthur  Fenner,  addressed  an  indignant  and  stirring 
remonstrance  to  the  colonial  executive  at  Newport. 
The  remonstrance  is  lost,  but  the  answer  thereto 
gives  a  sufficiently  clear  idea  of  the  tone  of  its  con- 
tents. "Captain  Fenner  with  the  Rest  concerned," 
the  reply  begins,  "  I  thought  good  to  present  you 
with  my  Informatione  of  your  evell  Suggestions 
Concerning  us  in  authority  Espetially  myselfe  (as  if 
not  worthy  to  live) " ;  and  from  this  premise  the  writer 
goes  on  to  set  forth  his  view  of  the  case.  In  the  first 
'place,  had  a  relieving  force  been  sent  to  Providence, 
the  expenses  of  their  armament  and  maintenance 
"would  have  Eaten  you  and  us  quite  up";  secondly, 
the  town  of  Providence  had  been  especially  exempted 
from  the  colony  taxes,  "partly  for  the  Ende  you 
might  have  Relief  and  to  deale  plainly  with  you,  wee 
are  not  of  ability  to  keepe  Soldiers  under  paye, 
having  not  provisions,  as  bread  (neither  are  you)." 
Under  these  circumstances  the  advice  of  the  governor 
was  to  secure  whatever  was  possible,  "and  what  you 
Cannot  Secure,  is  best  to  be  transported  hither  for 
Security,"  he  concludes. 

This  missive  was  written  on  March  28,  and  on 
the  following  day  the  Indians  attacked  Providence. 


JVilliams  and  Trovidence     95 

Twenty-nine  houses  were  plundered  and  burned. 
The  greater  part  of  the  town's  population  of,  perhaps, 
five  hundred  had  withdrawn  to  the  island  of  Rhode 
Island,  in  accordance  with  the  advice  of  the  General 
Assembly,  as  being  "the  most  secureist  place." 
They  were  to  be  provided  with  farming  land,  so  far 
as  practicable,  and  with  grazing  rights  for  their  cows, 
if  they  were  so  exceedingly  fortunate  as  to  have  any. 
The  inhabitants  of  Warwick  moved  en  masses  a  pro- 
ceeding which  ceases  to  appear  extraordinary  when 
we  read  that  Warwick  was  *'all  of  it  burned  by  the 
enemy  at  several  times."  The  historian  who  is  re- 
sponsible for  this  statement  also  informs  us  that 
"Pawtuxet  had  twelve  houses  burned  in  March 
1676,"  and  Providence  had  "eighteen  houses  burned 
in  June  1675."  These  last  were  outlying  farmhouses, 
situated  very  much  as  was  that  of  Arthur  Fenner, 
which  made  one  of  the  eighteen  mentioned. 

Twenty-seven  of  the  men  of  Providence,  includ- 
ing Roger  Williams,  "staid  and  went  not  away." 
Backus,  in  his  History  of  the  Baptists,  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  approach  of  the  Indians. 
"Tradition  says,  that  when  the  Indians  appeared  on 
the  highlands  north  of  their  great  cove,  Mr.  Williams 
took  his  staff  and  walked  over  towards  them,  hoping 
likely  to  pacify  them  as  he  had  often  done ;  but  when 
some  of  their  aged  men  saw  him,  they  came  out  and 
met  him,  and  told  him  that  though  those  who  had 
long  known  him  would  not  hurt  him,  yet  their  young 


9  6  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

men  were  so  enraged  that  it  was  not  safe  for  him  to 
venture  among  them ;  upon  which  he  returned  to  the 
garrison."  A  few  weeks  later  he  wrote  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts;  ** their  Houses  here,  their 
Forts,  their  Fences  [are]  burnt  up,  and  much  if  not 
most  of  their  Cattel  destroyed." 

Probably  the  damage  which  is  most  deeply  felt 
by  posterity  is  that  sustained  by  the  town  records. 
Tradition  tells  us  that  they  were  actually  in  flames, 
and  were  only  saved  from  destruction  by  being 
thrown  into  the  mill-pond.  The  tale  is  accredited  by 
ample  evidence,  and  the  fact  accounts  for  much  of 
the  astonishingly  incoherent  state  in  which  they  are 
preserved.  Such  parts  of  the  records  as  were  entirely 
lost  were  supplied,  so  far  as  might  be,  from  memory. 
If  the  exact  date  of  an  event  was  uncertain,  an  ap- 
proximate date  was  filled  in,  as  the  best  substitute 
available.  The  town-records  were,  at  the  best,  kept 
very  much  as  the  individual  idiosyncracies  of  the 
acting  town-clerk  might  dictate.  Town-meetings 
were  entered  at  one  end  of  a  book,  and  deeds  of  land 
conveyances  at  the  other.  Sometimes  both  sides  of 
a  page  were  used,  frequently  they  were  not.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  two  subjects  slid  by  one  another,  — 
so  to  speak,  —  and  as  a  result  of  this  novel  system  of 
double-entry  we  may  read  on  page  105  (numbering 
from  the  beginning  of  the  volume)  the  first  part  of 
the  record  of  certain  transactions  in  land,  which  are 
finished  on  page  1 1  because  the  reverse  side  of  the 


"Mark"  of  King  Philip 

Affixed  to  a  deed    of    1659.    From   original  in  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 


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JVilliams  and  Vrovidence    97 

pages  is  numbered  from  the  end  of  the  book.  Page 
17  is  devoted  to  the  sales  and  transfers  of  1648,  while 
page  1 8  deals  with  those  of  ten  years  later.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  in  1655  the  town  voted  to  have  "the 
Progresse  of  the  Lawes  in  use  that  formerly  were  in  a 
Loose  Paper  .  .  .  written  in  the  Booke."  Part  of  the 
disorder  above  described  has  arisen  from  careless 
rebinding,  further  confounding  what  was  already 
confused. 

One  more  quotation  from  William  Harris  may 
serve  to  close  the  episode  of  King  Philip's  War.  He 
writes:  "Just  now  news  is  brought  that  this  12th  of 
August  early  in  the  morneing  phillip  was  Slayne  in 
a  swamp  within  a  mile  of  mount  hope  and  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  Rhode  Island."  His  cause  was 
already  lost,  and  his  fate  was  enviable  compared 
with  that  of  his  companions  in  arms  and  their  fami- 
lies. These  poor  wretches  were  sold  into  servitude 
among  the  colonists  for  terms  of  years,  varying  with 
the  age  of  the  prisoner.  The  prisoners  of  war  were  at 
first  a  source  of  embarrassment,  rather  than  wealth, 
to  the  good  people  of  Providence,  where  adequate 
facilities  for  disposing  of  an  assemblage  of  presum- 
ably hostile  Indians  were  sadly  lacking.  Hence  the 
record  of  August  29,  "By  God's  Providence  it  sea- 
sonably came  to  passe  that  Providence  Williams 
brought  up  his  mother  from  Newport,  in  his  sloop  and 
cleared  the  Towne  by  his  vessel  of  all  the  Indians  to 
the  great  peace  and  Content  of  all  the  Inhabitants." 


9  8  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  Quaker  government  at  Newport  underwent 
considerable  modification  during  the  progress  of  the 
war.  As  Backus  says,  "finding  their  spiritual  power 
would  not  secure  them  against  the  Indians,  they  gave 
out  military  commissions."  On  the  well-known  prin- 
ciple of  locking  the  stable  door  after  the  horse  is 
stolen,  John  Cranston  was  appointed  colony-major, 
on  April  ii,  1676.  In  May,  Cranston  became 
deputy-governor  of  the  colony,  and  under  his  leader- 
ship really  effective  measures  were  taken  for  the 
security  of  the  mainland.  A  garrison,  "  consistinge  of 
seven  men  with  a  commander,  which  shall  make  up 
eight"  was  "settled"  at  Providence,  to  be  "the 
King's  garrison,"  with  Arthur  Fenner  as  "chiefe 
Commander,  not  eclipsinge  Captain  Williams  power 
in  the  exercise  of  the  Traine  Band  there."  And 
moreover  "one  great  gun"  was  ordered  "to  be  sent 
to  Providence,  for  the  garrison,"  with  fifty  pounds  of 
powder  and  one  hundredweight  of  lead;  "which  said 
powder  and  lead  is  not  to  be  embezzled,  but  kept 
for  a  reserve  against  a  time  of  need,  to  repulse  the 
enemy."  This  garrison  was  to  be  paid  by  the  colony, 
hence  the  less  need  for  the  "embezzlement"  of  pow- 
der and  lead.  The  men  remained  under  arms  until 
October,  when  they  were  withdrawn,  for  after  the 
death  of  Philip  the  stamping-out  of  the  smouldering 
embers  of  insurrection  was  a  matter  of  but  few  weeks. 

Although  Philip  was  not  an  especially  attractive 
personage  on  the  stage  of  history  he  has  figured 


JVilliams  and  Vrovidence     99 

rather  prominently  as  a  hero  in  fiction.  Several 
dramas  have  been  devoted  to  the  tale  of  his  varying 
fortunes  and  tragic  end.  One  of  these  was  written 
for  an  actor  of  no  less  note  than  Edwin  Forrest,  and  a 
burlesque  of  this  play  was  at  one  time  a  favorite  on 
the  Boston  stage. 

Canonchet,  the  youthful  sachem  of  the  Narra- 
ganset  Indians,  who  was  captured  and  shot  in  the 
April  of  1676,  has  been  portrayed  by  that  master- 
painter  of  pioneer  woodcraft  and  seacraft,  J.  Feni- 
more  Cooper,  in  his  novel  The  Wept  of  Wish-ton- 
Wish. 


Chapter   IV 

THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

FROM  the  beginning,  the  social  and  political 
life  of  Providence  was  modified  by  condi- 
tions peculiar,  among  English-speaking  set- 
tlements, to  this  colony  alone.  The  "first-comers'* 
brought  to  their  self-appointed  task  of  ''planting'* 
on  the  banks  of  the  Moshassuc  an  unbounded  supply 
of  religious  zeal,  together  with  an  extremely  limited 
supply  of  this  world's  goods. 

The  pioneer  community  was  made  up  of  men  who 
appeared  on  the  scene  almost  at  haphazard,  the  great 
majority  of  whom  were  restive  of  all  control,  and 
insubordinate  on  the  slightest  provocation.  Those 
who  could  not  live  in  peace  with  their  neighbors 
elsewhere,  came  to  Providence,  where  they  speedily 
claimed  the  privilege  of  "declaring  their  minds" 
concerning  their  temporal  condition  and  environ- 
ment, as  well  as  concerning  "a  state  of  eternal 
salvation." 

The  situation  of  Providence  was  admirably 
adapted  for  a  great  commercial  centre,  but  man  does 
not  live  by  geography  alone,  and  there  was  for  many 
a  long  year  an  absolute  dearth  of  articles  of  export. 

The  light  and  sandy  soil  barely  yielded  sufficient 
crops  for  the  farmers  and  their  families.  The  country 


The  Seventeenth  Century     i  o  i 

was  wooded,  but  no  one  had  capital  to  invest  in  the 
lumber  trade.  In  the  eyes  of  their  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts  neighbors,  the  men  of  Providence 
were  outcasts,  who  had  no  claim  to  help  from  their 
self-righteous  countrymen,  even  in  the  way  of  trade. 
They  were  pitch,  and  to  touch  was  to  be  defiled. 

Accordingly  our  colonists  turned,  perforce,  to 
the  more  worldly  Dutchmen  of  the  "Manhattoes." 
These  shrewd  traders  were  soon  blithely  trudging 
over  the  Pequod  Path,  bringing  hoes,  guns,  and 
powder,  together  with  coats,  beads,  and  looking- 
glasses  for  the  Indian  trade.  Presently  Dutch  sloops 
crept  through  the  Sound  and  up  Narragansett  Bay, 
to  land  cargoes  of  rum,  wine,  sack,  and  spirits,  in 
quantities  far  beyond  the  needs  of  the  colonists,  and 
sufficient  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  entire  tribe  of 
the  Narragansets.  The  liquor  excise  soon  became  a 
profitable  source  of  revenue.  There  was  no  wealth, 
and  but  little  education  among  the  first  settlers. 
Their  religious  enthusiasm  was  controversial  rather 
than  altruistic.  With  very  little  church  organization 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  doctrinal  exposition.  Reli- 
gious creeds  were  so  numerous  and  so  varied  that 
Cotton  Mather  asserted  that  if  ever  a  man  had  mis- 
laid his  religion,  he  could  be  sure  of  finding  it  some- 
where in  Rhode  Island.  The  "soul  liberty"  of  the 
Providence  Plantation  doubtless  worked  for  good, 
but  it  most  certainly  did  not  work  for  unity.  In  1 65 1 , 
William  Arnold,  of  Pawtuxet,  put  his  views  on  record 


I02  Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

to  the  effect,  that  "under  pretence  of  liberty  of  con- 
science about  these  parts,  there  comes  to  Hve  all  the 
scum,  the  runaways  of  the  country,  which,  in  time, 
for  want  of  a  better  order,  may  bring  a  heavy  bur- 
then upon  the  land." 

Such  cohesion  as  existed  in  this  concourse  of 
"loving  friends  and  neighbors"  was  that  of  a  com- 
mon economic  interest.    Each  townsman  was,  by 
virtue  of  being  such,  a  landed  proprietor,  —  a  privi- 
lege dear  to  the  heart  of  every  Englishman,  and 
doubly  dear  in  this  instance,  since  land  was  the  only 
form  of  wealth  attainable.  A  scholar  of  keen  insight 
has  said  that  in  no  settlement  on  the  continent  of 
America  did  land  play  so  important  a  part  as  in 
Providence.  This  state  of  things  arose  from  the  fact 
that  their  lands  represented  for  the  settlers  of  Provi- 
dence their  one  common  interest.  The  church,  which 
was  the  social  and  political  centre  of  the  normal 
Anglo-Saxon  settlement  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
was  in  Providence  a  dividing  —  not  a  connecting  — 
influence.  Of  course  the  money  value  of  land  in  the 
colony  was  at  first  very  small ;  it  was  pitiably  small, 
when  we  consider  the  "disputations"  and  "agita- 
tions" which  its  division  engendered  and  fostered. 
In  1650  it  was  decreed  that  "all  men  received"  into 
the  town  should  pay  one  shilling  per  acre  for  their 
home  share  of  land,  and  sixpence  per  acre  for  the 
remainder  of  their  grant,  which  should  not  exceed 
twenty-five  acres. 


The  Seventeenth  Century    103 

The  source  from  which  the  townspeople  hoped  to 
realize  their  dreams  of  future  wealth  was  the  undi- 
vided lands.  When,  in  1658,  Massachusetts  aban- 
doned her  claim  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  the 
Pawtuxet  lands,  the  proprietors  of  Providence  began 
to  bestir  themselves.  The  most  fertile  lands  of  their 
plantation  were  thereby  restored  to  them,  as  if  by  a 
miracle,  from  out  the  very  hand  of  the  acquisitive 
Bay  Colony.  They  at  once  obtained  permission  from 
the  General  Assembly  to  purchase  more  land  from 
the  Indians  ("seeing  they  are  straytened"),  and  to 
clear  off  the  Indians  from  the  land  already  pur- 
chased. The  consummation  of  this  Pawtuxet  pur- 
chase was  quickly  followed  by  the  laying-down  of 
the  Twenty-Mile  Line  "up  into  the  Countrey,"  to 
the  west  of  "Foxes  Hill."  Then  arose  anxious  in- 
quiries as  to  the  number  of  purchasers,  or  proprie- 
tors, who  might  safely  be  permitted  to  share  in  the 
real  estate  of  the  plantation,  "allowing  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  commoning."  After  three  years  more  of 
the  "headiness,  tumults  and  disorders"  against 
which  Sir  Henry  Vane  had  warned  the  colony,  with 
that  frankness  universally  recognized  as  the  touch- 
stone of  true  friendship,  the  existing  proprietors 
carried  their  point.  It  was  voted  that  "there  shall 
not  be  any  more  people  accommodated  with  land  as 
Purchasers  within  the  bounds  of  this  towne ;  and  that 
this  order  be  not  repealed  without  the  full  consent  of 
the  whole  number  of  the  Purchasers." 


I04  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

In  other  words,  the  proprietors,  one  hundred  and 
one  in  number,  proposed  to  keep  the  entire  undi- 
vided land  of  the  township  in  their  own  possession, 
with  the  exception  of  such  portions  as  had  already 
been  declared  common ;  and  not  without  the  unani- 
mous consent  of  their  little  oligarchy  could  the  land- 
less man  be  admitted  within  their  charmed  circle.  A 
proprietor  might  sell  his  right,  or  any  part  of  it.  For 
example,  he  might  sell  his  house  lot,  or  his  six-acre 
lot,  or  any  portion  of  the  land  which  he  held  by  virtue 
of  his  right,  and  such  sales  were  matters  of  everyday 
occurrence.  After  1663,  however,  the  number  of 
purchasers'  rights  actually  in  existence  could  not 
be  added  to  without  the  expressed  consent  of  every 
member  of  the  corporation.  And  surely  he  must  be 
an  individual  of  sanguine  temperament  and  hopeful 
disposition  who  should  cherish  any  pronounced 
expectation  of  inducing  one  hundred  and  one  vig- 
orous and  self-respecting  Rhode-Islanders  to  hold 
identical  views  on  any  subject  —  even  were  no 
question  of  property  rights  involved. 

The  freemen  of  the  town,  in  their  turn,  held  jeal- 
ously to  their  privileges,  refusing  to  allow  a  new- 
comer to  reside  within  their  boundaries  unless  he  was 
first  approved  by  the  vote  of  a  town-meeting.  He 
must  have  recourse  to  that  same  august  assembly 
for  permission  to  buy  that  land  which  would  alone 
entitle  him  to  the  rights  and  obligations  of  a  citizen  in 
good  and  regular  standing.  At  a  very  early  date  in 


The  Seventeenth  Century    105 

the  history  of  the  plantation  it  became  necessary  for 
the  ''distressed  of  conscience "  to  satisfy  the  good 
people  of  Providence  that  he  was  able  and  willing  to 
provide  for  his  own  maintenance  before  he  was  per- 
mitted to  taste  of  the  ''sweet  cup  of  liberty"  in  their 
fellowship.  He  might  safely  be  trusted  to  work  out 
his  own  salvation,  but  he  must  furnish  a  practical 
guaranty  of  his  ability  to  provide  bed  and  board  for 
himself  and  family. 

Land  was  the  only  form  of  invested  wealth  avail- 
able; hence,  the  newcomer  must  purchase  land, 
having  first  obtained  from  the  town-meeting  per- 
mission to  do  so.  Nor  was  the  limitation  felt  as  a 
hardship  until  the  eighteenth  century  was  drawing  to 
its  close.  Land  was  the  great  desideratum,  it  is  true, 
but  land  was  abundant,  and  so  cheap  as  to  be  within 
easy  reach  of  every  able-bodied  and  industrious 
pioneer.  Meadow-land  must  have  been  in  great 
demand,  since  by  far  the  chief  source  of  the  wealth 
of  the  townsmen  lay  in  their  herds  of  swine  and  goats. 
As  early  as  1648,  the  town  records  make  mention  of 
"  14  head  of  Cattle,"  which  would  seem  to  imply 
cows  or  oxen  rather  than  goats  or  swine ;  and  there  is 
evidence  that  "cowkind"  appeared  on  the  scene  at 
an  even  earlier  date.  In  1650  a  "pound"  is  desig- 
nated as  the  appropriate  place  for  such  "Cattle"  as 
a  man  might  find  "in  his  own  Corne."  The  town 
pound  was  on  the  highway  described  as  being  just 
north  of  "the  house  and  house  lot"  of  Robert  Coles, 


io6   Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

that  is,  on  the  present  Meeting  Street,  which  thus 
entered  on  its  career  as  the  abiding-place  of  various 
forms  of  incarceration.  At  a  later  day  in  the  colony's 
history  a  jail  succeeded  the  pound,  and  a  school- 
house  has  long  since  succeeded  the  jail. 

A  rather  curious  episode,  which  took  place  in 
Warwick  in  1651,  throws  light  on  several  aspects  of 
colonial  life.  We  are  shown  the  wayfaring  Dutch 
trader,  the  hospitality  of  the  English  farmer,  and 
the  apparently  limitless  field  of  action  of  the  town- 
meeting.  John  Warner,  formerly  "a  citizen  and 
freeman  of  London,"  was  one  of  the  ten  men  who 
purchased  Warwick,  where  he  settled  as  a  farmer,  — 
probably  not  far  from  that  well-known  thoroughfare, 
the  Pequod  Path.  In  165 1  he  had  occasion  to  bring  in 
a  bill  to  some  Dutch  traders  who  had  made  his  house 
their  headquarters  for  some  two  months  of  the  win- 
ter. He  had  stored  their  goods,  provided  good  fires 
so  that  "16  (horse  cart)  Load  of  wood  .  .  .  was 
burned  spedely,"  and  "diet  as  good  as  the  time  of  the 
yeere  offored,"  —  namely,  pork,  bacon,  roots,  but- 
ter, and  cheese,  while  "every  roome  in  the  house 
upon  ocations  was  at  there  servise."  For  these  ac- 
commodations he  charged  them  thirteenpence  apiece, 
per  day.  As  thus  stated  the  price  seems  far  from 
excessive,  yet  the  Dutchmen  protested  loudly,  and 
worthy  Mr.  Warner  found  himself  obliged  to  appeal 
to  the  town  for  help  to  collect  the  debt. 

No  doubt  much  might  be  said  on  both  sides,  and 


The  Seventeenth  Century    i  o  7 

when  we  recall  the  fact  that  home  shares  were  valued 
at  twelvepence  per  acre,  and  other  land  at  sixpence, 
we  shall  perhaps  appreciate  better  the  debtor's  point 
of  view.  Seven  years  later,  the  town  paid  Roger 
Mowry,  who  kept  "the  ordinary,"  one  and  sixpence 
"for  this  daies  fireing  and  house  roome."  There  is  no 
evidence  of  any  especial  rise  in  prices  since  1651,  and 
we  are,  on  the  whole,  inclined  to  regret  that  John 
Warner  did  not  succeed  in  making  good  his  claim, 
and  pocketing  his  thirteen  pence  per  day.  So  far 
was  this  from  being  the  outcome  of  the  affair  that 
the  unfortunate  Warner  only  succeeded  in  arousing 
the  enmity  of  practically  the  entire  town  of  Warwick. 
His  case  must  have  been  prosecuted  with  vigor, 
rather  than  discretion,  for  when  it  was  duly  brought 
up  in  the  town-meeting  he  was  there  charged  with 
three  heinous  offences  against  law  and  order:  (i) 
with  calling  the  officers  in  the  town  rogues  and 
thieves  with  respect  to  their  office,  (2)  with  calling  the 
whole  town  of  Warwick  rogues  and  thieves,  (3)  with 
threatening  the  lives  of  men,  etc.  For  these  misde- 
meanors he  was  forbidden  to  vote,  and  declared 
ineligible  for  any  office  until  he  had  given  the  town 
satisfaction. 

This  ultimatum  was  pronounced  in  April,  and  in 
May  the  irate  Warner  shook  the  dust  of  the  town 
from  his  shoes  and  returned  to  England  with  his 
family.  He  had  married  the  daughter  of  Ezekiel 
Holliman,  of  Providence,  the  same  who  baptized 


io8  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Roger  Williams  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of 
the  Baptist  church.  Holliman  wished  to  make  his 
grandson,  John  Warner,  his  heir,  and  at  his  request 
the  boy  came  back  to  the  colony,  where,  in  1670,  he 
married  Ann  Gorton,  the  daughter  of  the  eloquent 
and  turbulent  author  of  Simplicitie's  Defence.  It  is 
not  perhaps  an  occasion  for  unqualified  astonishment 
when  we  discover  that  John  and  Ann  Warner  failed 
to  adjust  amicably  all  their  differences  of  opinion. 
If  John  inherited  his  father's  pugnacity,  and  Ann  her 
father's  talent  for  rhetorical  vituperation,  imagina- 
tion can  without  difficulty  supply  an  explanation  for 
the  appearance  of  Ann  Warner  before  the  General 
Assembly  of  1683,  to  ask  for  a  divorce.  The  court 
declared  a  separation,  and  that  John  Warner  should 
"put  over"  part  of  his  estate  for  the  maintenance  of 
his  wife  and  children.  Notwithstanding  this  stormy 
episode  in  his  career,  John  Warner  appears  to  have 
been  a  respected  citizen  of  his  native  town,  where  he 
spent  a  long  and  useful  life. 

By  1675,  when  the  Indian  war  broke  out,  there 
were  probably  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  houses 
standing  on  the  Towne  Street  of  Providence.  The 
greater  part  of  these  were  at  the  north  end  where  the 
grist-mill  and  saw-mill  were  situated.  A  little  dis- 
tance to  the  north  of  these  centres  of  the  town's  in- 
dustrial activity  was  the  "ordinary,"  or  tavern,  of 
Roger  Mowry,  where  town-meetings  were  often 
held,  and  where  the  Indian  prisoner  who  was  sus- 


The  Seventeenth  Century    109 

pected  of  murdering  John  Clawson  was  so  vigilantly 
guarded. 

As  early  as  1654,  the  General  Assembly,  moved 
probably  by  the  wish  to  place  liquor-selling  under 
some  sort  of  restraint,  desired  each  town  to  "forth- 
with apoynt  or  licence  one  or  two  howses  for  the 
entertainment  of  strangers,"  and  "to  encourage" 
such  enterprising  persons  as  were  inclined  to  take 
advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  engage  in  the  hotel 
business;  "all  others"  were  forbidden  to  retail 
"either  wine,  beer,  or  strong  liquors,"  under  a  pen- 
alty of  five  pounds  fine.  The  extreme  severity  of  the 
penalty  may  well  lead  us  to  wonder  whether  its 
exaction  was  ever  seriously  contemplated.  At  all 
events,  accommodation  for  the  public  seemed  to  lag 
behind  the  needs  of  this  stirring  age,  for  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  Assembly  again  took  up  the  mat- 
ter, and  announced  that  "this  Court  shall  nominate 
and  apoynt  two  persons  to  keepe  such  houses  .  .  . 
in  each  town,"  and  forthwith  promptly  nominated 
for  Providence  Roger  Mowry  and  Richard  Pray.  In 
order  that  strangers  —  red  or  white  —  might  not  un- 
wittingly purchase  refreshment  from  those  unau- 
thorized to  provide  the  same,  the  Assembly  further 
ordered  "  that  each  one  so  apoynted  as  premised  .  .  . 
shall  cause  to  be  sett  out  a  convenient  signe  at  the 
most  perspicuous  place  of  the  saide  house,"  and 
this  was  to  be  done  "with  all  convenient  speede." 

Roger  Mowry  came  to  Providence  from  Salem, 


1 1  o  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

probably  shortly  before  1650.  His  "howse  of  enter- 
tainment," and  others  similarly  equipped  for  busi- 
ness, must  have  fulfilled  the  purpose  for  which  they 
were  "apoynted"  not  wisely,  but  too  well.  For  in 
1656  the  Assembly  once  more  felt  called  upon  to 
interpose  by  an  enactment  "  that  no  howse  of  enter- 
tainment shall  suffer  any  person  to  tipple  after  9  of 
the  clock  at  night,  except  they  can  give  a  satisfactory 
reason  to  the  Constable  or  magistrate";  furthermore, 
the  constable  was  to  proceed  on  the  spot,  and  without 
process  of  law,  to  collect  a  fine  of  five  shillings  from 
the  "ordinarie  keeper,"  and  two  and  sixpence  from 
"  the  partie  "  concerned.  We  are  tempted  to  enter  the 
field  of  conjecture  in  quest  of  a  possible  "satisfactory 
reason"  with  which  to  appease  the  worthy  constable. 
With  liquor  selling  at  two  and  sixpence  the  pint,  it 
is  evident  that  the  officer's  opportunities  for  "enter- 
tainment" presented  large  possibilities  in  any  town 
at  all  given  to  protracted  conviviality. 

After  these  attractive  suggestions  of  evening  gos- 
sip, spiced  with  the  "ordinarie  keeper's"  favorite 
brew,  it  is  somewhat  disconcerting  to  realize  that  the 
"ordinary"  of  Roger  Mowry,  where  town-meetings 
were  convened,  travellers  entertained,  and  the  Indian 
prisoner  Waumanitt  given  "  howse  room  "  for  himself 
and  his  guard  during  some  eight  or  ten  nights,  would 
impress  us  as  a  far  from  commodious  abiding-place. 
Five  years  ago  the  house  itself  was  still  standing,  and 
in  a  state  of  very  good  preservation.    It  was  built 


The  Roger' Mowry  Tavern 

Later  the  Whipple  House,  on  Abbott  Street,  torn  down 
in  1900.    From  a  wood-cut  made  about  i860. 


oo>I  shT 


JT  Mrr,r,;,I'77.-,rii 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 1 1 

certainly  as  early  as  1653,  ^^^  originally  contained 
two  rooms.  The  lower,  or  "fire  room,"  was  entered 
from  the  street,  and  had  a  huge  stone  chimney,  which 
entirely  filled  one  end  of  the  house,  save  for  a  space 
of  some  six  feet  at  the  side,  where  a  steep  staircase 
led  to  the  "chamber"  above.  The  dimensions  of  the 
"fire  room"  were  sixteen  by  seventeen  feet.  The 
door,  with  its  large  step  of  a  single  flat  stone,  was  in 
the  southwest  corner.  The  house  was  a  story  and  a 
half  in  height,  so  that  the  overhead  chamber  was  no 
more  than  a  loft.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
where  the  host  bestowed  "  the  bed  .  .  .  and  victuals 
for  the  entertayning  of  strangers,"  which  were,  in 
1 66 1,  added  to  the  list  of  essentials  demanded  of 
those  who  would  "  retayle  wine  or  lyckers." 

If  we  were  to  form  our  opinion  of  the  amount  of 
"lyckers"  required  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  tov^n 
of  Providence  from  the  supplies  brought  there,  or 
such  part  of  them  as  are  entered  on  the  town  records 
for  the  greater  convenience  of  the  excise-collector, 
we  should  stand  aghast  at  the  apparent  capacity  of 
the  consumers.  In  1655,  forty-one  ankers  (each  con- 
taining nine  or  ten  gallons)  are  recorded.  Of  these, 
Roger  Mowry  is  credited  with  six.  In  1656,  we  find 
a  total  importation  of  sixty-five  ankers,  three  hogs- 
heads, and  one  pipe.  In  1658,  eighty-six  ankers, 
eight  quarter-casks,  sixty-nine  gallons,  and  four 
barrels  were  brought  into  the  town;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  ankers,  four 


1 1 2   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

hogsheads,  one  pipe,  three  barrels,  and  one  half  a 
cask.  The  contents  of  these  various  receptacles  are 
enumerated  as  "liquors,"  wine,  rum,  "strong  liq- 
uors," and  sack.  Brandy  is  specified  but  twice. 

Of  course  the  greater  part  of  this  deluge  of  "  strong 
waters"  was  destined  for  the  Indian  trade,  and,  too, 
the  trade  itself  had  just  received  an  impetus  from  the 
close  of  the  war  with  the  Dutch,  thus  removing  a 
barrier  which  must  have  cut  off  supplies,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  during  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  dates  given  above.  "The  bloody  liquor 
trade,"  as  Roger  Williams  justly  styled  the  traffic, 
was  far  too  profitable  not  to  thrive  in  the  face  of 
fixed  prices,  excises,  and  restrictions  on  selling  at 
retail.  In  the  account  just  given,  the  home  manu- 
facture has  been  entirely  neglected.  Cider  was  plen- 
tiful. "  Peach  bear"  cannot  have  been  a  rarity,  since 
as  early  as  1656  Roger  Williams  has  occasion  to 
speak  of  its  ill  effects  as  a  vehicle  for  neighborly 
hospitality.  "Thos:  the  Scot  .  .  .  hath  bene  taken 
up,  drowned  in  going  over  in  his  Canow,"  he  writes, 
"having  drunk  too  much  Peach  bear  at  his  neigh- 
bors." 

The  houses  of  this  early  period  can  only  have  been 
of  the  most  primitive  type,  of  which  Roger  Mowry's 
is  a  good  example .  They  were  made  of  half-logs,  and 
consisted  of  one  room  with  a  large  stone  chimney  at 
the  end.  Probably  the  roof  was  of  thatch,  and  the 
logs  of  the  framework  were  no  doubt  plastered  with 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 1 3 

mud. .  At  one  corner,  by  the  fireplace,  a  stair,  steep 
enough  to  have  been  built  on  the  rungs  of  the  original 
ladder,  led  to  the  half-story  loft  under  the  roof.  The 
first  amplification  of  this  simple  structure  was  the 
addition  of  a  lean-to,  built  along  one  side  of  the  main 
house. 

An  interesting  house  of  this  early  period  was  that 
of  our  military  friend.  Captain  Arthur  Fenner,  in  the 
present  suburb  of  Cranston.  It  was  not  pulled  down 
until  1895,  and  from  the  description  it  seems  that  it 
was  probably  a  reconstruction  in  part  of  that  de- 
stroyed by  the  Indians  in  1675.  The  original  chim- 
ney was  used,  with  an  addition,  for  the  second  build- 
ing. Across  the  top  of  the  old  fireplace  lay  an  oak 
beam  with  a  carved  moulding  along  its  lower  edge. 
The  ornamental  side  of  life  was  so  very  far  beyond 
the  reach,  and  possibly  the  aspirations,  of  the  greater 
number  of  Fenner's  fellow-townsmen  that  this  frag- 
mentary relic  of  its  non-utilitarian  aspect  rests  in  an 
almost  pathetic  isolation.  We  know  that  the  meadow 
and  upland  of  this  "farm  in  the  woods"  were  bought 
by  Captain  Fenner  in  1654,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  first  house  was  built  shortly  afterwards.  It  was  of 
the  regulation  story  and  a  half  type,  with  a  lean-to  at 
the  side.  It  was  thirty-six  feet  in  length,  sixteen  feet 
wide,  and  measured  about  nine  feet  from  the  door- 
sill  to  the  top  of  the  side  posts.  These  ran  to  the  roof, 
which  sloped  to  within  three  feet  of  the  floor  of  the 
upper  chamber. 


1 1 4  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Captain  Fenner  was  an  able  man,  of  well-known 
industry  and  thrift.  His  losses  in  the  Indian  war 
were  considerable.  Not  only  was  his  house  burned, 
but  his  crops  were  destroyed,  and  his  cattle  driven 
off.  What  the  Indians  failed  to  discover,  or  had  not 
time  to  reduce  to  ashes,  fell  a  prey  to  the  needs  of  the 
troops  of  the  United  Colonies,  —  of  which  Rhode  Is- 
land was  not  one.  "His  Stacks  of  hay  (22)  and  his 
fencing,  &c.,  God  Suffered  not  the  Pagans  to  de- 
stroy," says  Roger  Williams.  But  the  colonial  troops 
"found  it  necessary  to  fodder  their  Horses  and  make 
them  selves  Lodging  with  the  22  Stacks  and  to  make 
them  selves  fires  with  all  his  fencing  and  with  what- 
ever was,  about  the  farm.  Combustible."  The  neces- 
sity of  paying  for  what  was  thus  freely  taken  did  not 
strike  them  as  equally  pressing. 

It  was  a  sorry  spectacle  which  the  Captain  found 
awaiting  him  when  he  again  entered  into  possession. 
Nevertheless,  he  at  once  rebuilt  his  house,  and  bent 
his  energies  to  the  work  of  restoration  with  such 
creditable  results  that,  in  ten  years'  time,  he  was  able 
to  report  to  the  town  assessors  a  rateable  estate  con- 
sisting of  "about  three  Hundred  Acres  of  Wood  land 
unfenced  &  unimproved,  about  twenty  Acres  of 
Inclosed  wild  pasture,  &  about  tenn  Acres  in- 
closed of  English  pasture,  orchard  &  3  shares  of 
medow,  sum  of  it  very  boggy,  scarce  worth  mowing; 
about  five  Acres  of  planting  land ;  2  oxen,  9  Cowes,  5 
yeare  old  Cattle,  6  2  yeare  old  Catel,  ^  S  Z  yeare 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 1 5 

old  Cattell,  4  Mares,  one  of  them  is  but  a  yeareling 
mare,  one  Horse,  3  swine,  tenn  sheepe.  this  is  a  Just 
account.  I  pray  be  not  unmindfull  of  the  Golden 
Rule."  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  if  the  as- 
sessors were  men  to  meet  halfway  this  suggestion  as 
to  putting  precept  into  practice. 

Less  than  a  mile  to  the  southwest  of  the  Captain's 
house  was  that  of  his  son,  Thomas  Fenner.  Its  huge 
stone  chimney,  which  fills  the  greater  part  of  its 
north  end,  bears  the  date  1677.  We  may  assume 
that  after  the  war  the  Captain  rebuilt  his  own  house 
and  **set  up"  his  son's  at  very  nearly  the  same  time. 
The  Thomas  Fenner  house  was  truly  spacious,  with 
its  "fire  room"  seventeen  feet  square,  and  stone  fire- 
place wherein  many  a  ten-foot  log  has  blazed  and 
crackled.  In  the  corner  by  the  chimney  there  was 
room  not  only  for  the  staircase,  but  for  the  trapdoor 
leading  down  to  the  cellar.  This  mansion  could  boast 
two  stories  and  an  attic,  all  provided  with  leaded 
windows  of  a  single  sash. 

A  vivid  picture  of  the  domestic  life  and  surround- 
ings of  the  farmer  and  his  family  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  is  obtained  from  the  inventory 
of  his  personal  effects.  It  includes  his  wardrobe, 
furniture,  and  the  various  accessories  of  his  vocation, 
set  forth  with  such  minute  detail  that  there  were 
no  sins  of  omission  to  be  charged  to  the  account  of 
the  appraisers.  When  Captain  Arthur  Fenner  died, 
in  1703,  his  personal  property  was  appraised  at 


1 1 6  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

;£i66.o8.o,  including  **some  horses  and  Mares  not 
yet  found,"  whose  place  in  the  valuation  list  is  form- 
ally filled  in  with  ciphers.  "One  horse  neere  or  about 
thirty  yeares  old,"  is  put  down  at  one  shilling.  Lest  a 
wrong  impression  of  Fenner's  thrift  should  be  given, 
it  must  be  said  that  the  livestock  which  was  found 
made,  on  the  whole,  a  very  creditable  showing.  He 
had  a  yoke  of  oxen,  five  cows,  four  heifers,  six  steers, 
"2  yearlings,"  a  bull,  and  a  horse,  —  the  last  valued 
at  ;^4.  5.  o.  There  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  farming- 
tools,  and  various  sorts  of  provender,  for  both  man 
and  beast.  "Sidar,"  "Peach  Jyce,"  a  hive  of  bees, 
Indian  corn,  wheat,  rye,  oats,  cheese,  butter,  meal, 
pork,  and  "beere,"  are  enumerated,  as  also  twenty- 
nine  loads  of  hay,  worth  twenty  pounds. 

The  supply  of  furniture  was  more  ample  than  were 
the  accommodations  for  housing  it.  Imagination 
fails  us  in  the  endeavor  to  plan  for  the  storage,  in  a 
house  consisting  of  one  room  and  a  loft,  of  three  bed- 
steads and  the  usual  accompaniment  of  beds  and 
bedding,  "three  Great Chaires,  &  seven  small  ones," 
"five Chests  and  three  boxes  and  a  Trunck," besides 
kettles,  pots,  "a  Frieing  Pann  and  a  driping  Pann," 
platters,  porringers,  cups,  "sauscers,"  and  bottles; 
—  not  to  mention  "A  great  Bible,  a  Booke  called 
the  statute"  and  "seven  small  Bookes."  The  Cap- 
tain's "weareing  Clothes"  were  valued  at  £%.  6.0. 
The  wardrobe  is  carefully  itemized.  It  consisted  of 
"  2  hatts,  one  Neckcloath,  one  silke  Capp,  3  shirts. 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 1 7 

3  pair  of  silver  Buttons,  5  wastcotts,  seven  pair  of 
breeches  and  a  pair  of  drawers,  3  loose  Coates,  one 
Buflf  belt,  2  pair  of  Mittens,  one  pair  of  Gloves, 
3  pair  of  stockings,  one  pair  of  Bootes  and  spurrs, 
and  some  shooes."  The  Captain's  silver  buttons  are 
among  the  first  items  of  silver  in  any  form  which 
figure  in  the  lists  of  household  effects  in  the  Provi- 
dence Plantations. 

In  his  entertaining  book  on  The  Colonial  Tavern, 
Mr.  Field  tells  us  that  Major  Thomas  Fenner,  whose 
house  has  just  been  described,  brewed  a  beer  famous 
throughout  the  countryside,  which  commanded  a 
price  of  no  less  than  three  shillings  a  barrel;  and  who 
can  doubt  that  it  was  made  from  the  same  recipe  as 
were  the  "5  Barrills"  included  among  his  father's 
effects  ?  At  all  events,  Mr.  Field  has  given  us  the 
recipe,  and  any  one  who  doubts  the  tonic  effects  of 
the  resulting  beverage  has  at  his  command  the  means 
whereby  he  may  taste  and  see  that  the  beer  is  good. 

i"  Receipt  to  make  Bear 

One  ounce  of  Sentry  Suckery  or  Sulindine  one 
handful  Red  Sage  or  Large  }/i  Pound  Shells  of  Iron 
Brused  fine  take  10  quarts  of  Water  Steep  it  away  to 
Seven  and  a  quart  of  Molases  Wheat  Brand  Baked 
Hard,  one  quart  of  Malt  one  handful  Sweeat  Balm 
Take  it  as  Soone  as  it  is  worked. 

King  Philip's  War  destroyed  the  work  of  a  genera- 
tion. Few  lives  were  lost,  it  is  true,  but  large  numbers 
of  cows,  horses,  and  sheep  were  driven  off;  crops. 


1 1 8  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

haystacks,  and  houses  were  burned.  In  the  town  of 
Providence  many  of  those  houses  which  had  been 
destroyed  were  not  rebuilt.  Some  of  the  people  who 
had  left  the  town  when  it  was  threatened  by  the 
Indians  did  not  return.  A  series  of  readjustments 
took  place,  —  either  knowingly  or  unwittingly. 

The  disturbance  caused  by  the  impending  trouble, 
even  before  the  blow  actually  fell,  is  shown  by  the 
action  of  the  town  regarding  the  bridge  at  Wey- 
bosset, — i.e.,  at  Weybosset  Point,  the  site  where 
now  stand  the  Washington  Buildings,  at  the  corner 
of  Washington  Row  and  Westminster  Street.  As 
late  as  1660  (only  fifteen  years  before  the  war)  the 
town  had  gone  to  great  expense  in  building  a  bridge. 
This  structure  had  cost  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds,  and  although,  with  characteristic  New- 
England  reserve,  its  exact  location  is  withheld,  the 
interesting  fact  is  mentioned  that  it  is  useful,  not 
only  for  the  denizens  of  Providence,  **  but  for  the 
whole  Countrey."  On  the  ground  of  the  extraordin- 
ary cost  of  the  bridge  and  its  utility  to  the  general 
public,  it  has  been  plausibly  argued  that  the  afore- 
said bridge  was  at  Weybosset,  which  is  to  say  that  it 
was  the  first  Great  Bridge  over  the  river  where 
Market  Square  is  to-day. 

Three  years  later  a  statement  was  made,  which 
would  seem  to  solve  any  doubts  entertained  by  the 
most  critical  descendant  of  the  seventeenth-century 
taxpayers.   In  April,  1663,  "George  Shepard  of  the 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 1 9 

Towne  of  Providence  .  .  .  came  .  .  .  into  Court," 
and  presented  to  the  town  his  rights  as  a  purchaser  in 
the  lands  lying  between  the  Seven-Mile  Line  and  the 
Twenty-Mile  Line,  "to  this  purpose,  that  the  said 
Right  shall  be  for  the  maintaining  of  the  Towne 
Bridge  at  Waybossett."  However  generous  the  pur- 
pose of  the  donor,  it  soon  became  evident  that  the 
revenue  from  this  real  estate  would  not  suffice  to 
maintain  the  "Bridge  at  Waybossett,"  and  in  the 
following  year  a  committee  was  appointed  to  "goe 
unto  all  the  inhabetantes  of  the  Towne  to  see  what 
they  will  Contribute  to  the  Mending  the  Bridge  att 
Wayboysett."  The  amount  of  the  contribution  is  not 
mentioned,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  answered  the 
purpose,  since,  by  the  terms  of  the  agreement  sub- 
sequently made  with  the  town,  it  is  specified  that  the 
contracting  parties  shall  receive  "for  theire  paines 
&  Labour  about  the  premises,"  £ij^.  lo.  o,  and  that 
the  same  shall  be  paid  in  wheat  at  five  shillings  a 
bushel,  and  "Indian  Corne"  at  three  shillings  a 
bushel;  "and  what  peage  is  paid  it  is  to  be  at  sixteen 
per  penney  white  and  eight  a  penney  Black." 

Two  years  passed  before  action  was  again  called 
for.  In  1667  we  read  that  five  men  were  "Chosen  to 
vew  the  bridge  at  Wapwoysit  &  to  Considder  of  the 
most  Easy  &  facill  way  to  repaire  it  so  that  the 
passage  may  not  be  lost."  The  committee  was  made 
up  of  Roger  Williams,  John  Throckmorton,  Arthur 
Fenner,  John  Whipple,  Senior,  and  Resolved  Water- 


I20  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

man,  and  after  a  year  had  been  taken  "to  Consid- 
der"  the  matter,  Roger  Williams  characteristically 
came  to  the  front  with  this  proposition,  —  "to  offer, 
that  if  you  please,  I  will  (with  Gods  helpe)  take  this 
Bridge  into  my  Care,  and  by  that  moderate  toll  of 
Strangers  of  all  Sorts  .  .  .  will  maintaine  it  So  long 
as  it  pleaseth  God  that  I  live  in  this  Towne."  His 
offer  proceeded  to  state  that  the  town  was  to  be  "  free 
from  all  Toll,"  on  condition  that  each  family  would 
give  one  man's  work  for  one  day  in  the  year  towards 
keeping  the  bridge  in  good  condition.  People  owning 
teams,  who  used  the  bridge  frequently,  were  to  give 
a  day's  work  of  a  man  and  team;  those  who  had 
"lesse  use,  half  a  day."  The  town  agreed  to  exact 
toll  from  strangers  with  cheerful  promptness,  but 
stated,  somewhat  ambiguously,  in  respect  to  the 
responsibility  of  the  "  Inhabetants,"  to  cooperate  in 
the  matter,  that  "he  shall  Receave  what  Each  person 
is  freely  willing  to  Contribute  towards  Saporting  of 
the  above  said  bridge." 

Whether  Roger  amassed  sufficient  wealth  from 
the  tolls  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  the  townsmen,  or 
whether  (as  seems  more  probable)  he  was  uncom- 
fortably insistent  in  the  matter  of  levying  the  re- 
quired day's  work  from  his  neighbors  and  their 
teams,  we  cannot  say.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  in 
March,  1672,  the  town  voted  that  he  should  not  "any 
Longer  Keepe  at  the  Bridge,"  but  was  "wholely 
Forbid  so  to  do." 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 2 1 

In  this  condition  of  affairs,  "  the  bridg  at  waybos- 
sett"  speedily  became  nobody's  business,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1675,  when  the  "hurries  with  the  Indians" 
was  the  thought  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  men, 
George  Shepard's  donation  of  land  was  formally 
returned  to  him  by  the  town,  for  the  stated  reason 
that  it  was  given  "upon  Condictiones  that  a  bridg 
was  maintain'd  at  waybossett  which  is  not  done." 
Possibly  it  was  thought  undesirable  to  provide  a 
thoroughfare  for  the  dreaded  Indians,  who  were 
already  raiding  the  surrounding  country.  In  all 
probability  the  resources  and  energy  of  the  fright- 
ened and  anxious  "Inhabetants"  were  taxed  to  the 
utmost  in  the  effort  to  provide  a  refuge  for  their 
families  and  their  chattels. 

It  was  many  a  long  day  before  a  second  bridge  was 
built.  With  characteristic  wrong-headedness,  for  the 
ensuing  thirty  years  the  townspeople,  their  cattle, 
and  their  teams  splashed  through  the  ford  at  "the 
wading-place"  (from  Steeple  Street  diagonally  to  the 
present  Exchange  Street),  or  went  up  the  river  half  a 
mile  to  the  Mill  Bridge,  in  order  to  reach  the  mead- 
ows on  Weybosset  Plain,  or  the  cart-path  which  led 
to  the  farms  at  Mashapaug. 

The  possession  of  teams  would,  under  ordinary 
conditions,  create  a  demand  for  good  roads,  and 
whatever  shortcomings  may  be  laid  to  the  score  of 
the  Providence  town-meeting,  it  cannot  be  accused  of 
remissness  in  this  matter.  From  1649  it  is  repeatedly 


12  2  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

"ordered,"  or  "voated,"  that  the  highway  shall  be 
repaired  by  each  man  "before  his  house  lot  or  lots," 
that  lands  laid  out  shall  not  "damnify  the  highway," 
that  trees  felled  across  the  highway  must  be  removed 
within  twenty-four  hours,  and  that  the  common  road 
must  not  be  obstructed  by  large  stones,  or  boulders. 
At  length,  in  1664,  every  man  who  had  a  team  was 
required  to  "  worke  i  day  worke  a  yeare  with  it  at  the 
high  wayes,"  and  "  Every  howse  keeper  that  hath  no 
teame  shall  worke  2  dayes." 

This  moderate  requirement  proved  insufficient  to 
meet  the  emergency,  and  the  spring  mud  of  the  April 
following  brought  the  town  fathers  to  a  realizing 
sense  of  the  necessity  for  more  drastic  measures. 
Each  "howse  keeper"  was  thereupon  required  to 
"worke  Three  dayes  in  a  yeare  at  the  high  wayes" 
under  penalty  of  a  fine  of  two  shillings  and  sixpence 
for  each  day  omitted.  "And  those  who  have  oxen  to 
forfeitt  I  J.  6^.  for  a  yoake,"  unless  "  they  Cann 
Excuse  them  selves  justly  Either  by  sicknesse  or 
there  oxen  Cannot  be  found." 

Under  these  circumstances  we  should  be  inclined 
to  predict  an  epidemic  among  the  "howse  keepers" 
for  the  spring  of  1666,  or  else  an  astonishingly  large 
number  of  lost  and  strayed  oxen.  Not  improbably 
the  town  was  visited  by  both  misfortunes,  with  the 
result  that  the  June  town-meeting  took  up  the  matter, 
and  ordered  that  "  if  any  make  such  Excuses  [as  the 
above]  yett  they  shall  not  be  Freed."  A  later  gener- 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 2  3 

ation  supplemented  the  pound  of  cure  with  an  ounce 
of  prevention.  In  1682,  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
colony  was  moved  to  consider  the  "damage"  done 
*'in  the  towne  of  Providence  by  persons  riding  a 
gallup,"  and  this  devastating  rate  of  progress  was 
peremptorily  forbidden  "in  the  street  lying  against 
the  great  river  .  .  .  between  the  land  of  Pardon 
Tillinghast,  and  the  northerly  corner  of  John  Whip- 
ple, Sen'r,  where  his  dwelling-house  stands,"  under 
penalty  of  five  shillings  fine.  Pardon  Tillinghast 
lived  at  the  corner  of  South  Main  and  Transit 
Streets,  and  John  Whipple,  Senior,  dwelt  about  half- 
way up  Constitution  Hill,  at  the  north  end  of  the 
town. 

By  the  time  the  good  people  of  Providence  had 
sold  off  their  Indian  prisoners,  reinstated  their  house- 
hold gods  so  far  as  that  was  practicable,  and  settled 
down  once  more  to  a  quiet  life  on  the  Towne  Street, 
diversified  rather  than  disturbed  by  sundry  neigh- 
borly differences  of  opinion,  their  first  thought  was 
for  the  preservation  of  their  "  Towne  Books  and 
Records  (saved  by  Gods  mercifuU  Providence  from 
fire  and  water)."  Accordingly  four  men,  who  had 
held  the  position  of  town-clerk,  were  appointed  to 
"view  and  search  the  papers,  what  is  wanting  or 
Lost,  and  make  report  to  the  Towne."  This  was  done 
in  October,  1677,  and  the  records  were  in  due  course 
delivered  to  the  then  town-clerk,  Daniel  Abbott. 

Abbott's  house,  and,  later,  his  still-house,  stood 


124  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

on  the  Towne  Street,  close  by  the  present  Market 
Square,  and  near  the  *' great  tree  by  the  water  side, 
before  Thomas  Fields,"  where  the  town-meetings 
were  held  during  the  months  immediately  following 
the  Indian  raid.  When  cold  weather  set  in,  the  tree 
and  the  waterside  must  have  furnished  chilly  accom- 
modation, and  no  doubt  Daniel  Abbott,  being  town- 
clerk,  was  called  on  to  provide  house-room  for  the 
town-meeting,  as  well  as  the  town  records.  Finally, 
he  seems  to  have  felt  that  the  demands  of  hospitality 
had  been  amply  fulfilled.  In  the  December  of  1679 
he  addressed  the  town,  —  "to  pray  the  towne  now 
without  much  further  delay  (before  the  boardes  & 
Timber  be  most  all  sent  out  of  the  Townshipp)  .  .  . 
to  the  Perticular  propriety  and  advantages  of  only 
some  few  Perticular  persons  of  the  towne ;  that  they 
agree  Lovingly  togather  for  the  building  them  a 
Towne  house  to  keepe  theire  meetings  at;  And  not 
yet  to  Continue  further  Troubles  and  burdens  on 
some  Perticular  persons,  without  tendering  any 
Satisfaction  for  the  privelledge  thereof,  as  hath  ap- 
peared neere  this  two  yeares  space  of  time,  unto  your 
Neighbour  and  Friend  .  .  .  Daniell  Abbott." 

This  appeal  to  justice  was  not  without  effect.  Once 
more  Roger  Williams  came  to  the  front,  and  a  month 
later  presented  to  the  town-meeting  a  bill  providing 
for  arrears  of  payment  due  the  town  officials,  with 
the  result  that  Daniel  Abbott  was  voted  "the  full  and 
Just  Sume  of  forty  shillings  in  Currant  pay,"  and 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 2  5 

that  on  making  known  the  amount  of  his  claims  for 
"howse  rent  yet  unpayed,"  he  should  be  "herd, 
Satisfied,  Contented  &  payd." 

So  far,  matters  looked  promising,  but  governments 
are  notoriously  ungrateful,  and  this  deplorable  fact  is 
again  brought  out  in  the  experience  of  the  Providence 
town-clerk.  Precisely  six  years  later  he  pertinently 
informs  the  town-meeting  that  "as  it  Is  Equitable" 
for  him  to  pay  his  debts,  "It  Is  as  good  reason  for  you 
to  pay  your  debts,"  and  with  this  preamble  presents 
his  bill  of  ;^i.  4.  6  for  services  in  "Coppicing  out" 
and  "lei vying"  various  town  rates,  concluding  with 
the  following  exhortation:  "And  as  the  saying  is, 
many  can  help  one,  better  than  one  can  help  many: 
there  were  three  yeares  that  meettlngs  were  keept 
at  my  dwelling,  what  will  you  allow  me  for  that? 
Forty  shillings  was  promised,  but  none  performed. 
Considering  the  most  was  kept  in  the  winter  when 
fire-wood  burn't  out  apace,  which  is  scace  to  be  had 
where  I  dwell." 

This  pungent  reminder  appears  to  have  brought 
about  a  settlement  of  the  debt.  When  Daniel  Abbott 
next  comes  upon  the  stage  of  the  town-meeting  it  is 
as  the  author  of  an  Ingenuously  worded  return  of  his 
taxable  estate.  He  reports  "a  yoak  of  oxen,  2  Cows, 
2  steers,  One  horse,  and  a  poore  (malm'd)  young 
malre.  Aboute  12  Acars  of  improveable  Land,  a  3rd 
part  of  a  share  of  meddow,  most  of  It  but  pollopodum 
stuff  e.  And  for  the  Orchard  ...  in  3  years  all  that  I 


1 2  6  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

give  account  of,  was  but  12  Bushels  and  a  peck  of 
Apples  ...  as  for  my  Orchard  at  home,  it  is  Soe 
demolished  trees  ded  and  cutt  down  and  That  I  had 
very  Little  Benefitt  of  Late  yeares :  Also  I  am  prety 
much  downe  the  winde  at  present.  And  have  been 
disabled  this  Winter  .  .  .  and  yet  am  Lame  in  i  of 
my  hands:  and  Like  to  be."  If  to  this  lugubrious 
tale  there  could  have  been  added  the  complaint  of  a 
debt  owing  him  from  the  town,  we  can  hardly  doubt 
that  it  would  have  been  duly  inserted. 

It  was  not  until  the  last  year  of  Abbott's  services 
as  town-clerk  that  an  appointed  place  was  provided 
in  which  the  town  could  hold  its  meetings.  The  mat- 
ter fell  out  in  this  wise.  In  the  spring  of  1681,  the 
General  Assembly  ordered  the  various  town  coun- 
cils to  regulate  and  license  the  sale  of  "strong  drink" 
in  their  respective  towns.  Accordingly  the  council 
in  Providence  sent  for  John  Whipple,  Junior,  and 
Mary  Pray,  as  being  "the  Likelyest  in  thisTowne," 
and  inquired  if  either  or  both  of  them  would  under- 
take to  keep  a  public-house,  "provideing  both  for 
horse  and  man  for  this  Ensueing  yeare."  Whipple 
eventually  refused  to  provide  an  acceptable  bond, 
but  Mary  Pray  duly  received  her  license,  which  per- 
mitted her  to  sell  "Beer,  wine,  or  strong  Liquors." 
She  was  not  to  allow  unlawful  games  to  be  carried  on 
in  her  house,  "nor  any  Evill  rule  to  be  kept  therein." 
The  license  was  sufficiently  high  to  augur  well  for  the 
landlady's  prospects  of  custom,  whether  in  enter- 


The  Seventeenth  Century    127 

taining  the  stranger  within  her  gates,  or  in  dispensing 
refreshment  at  the  bar.  She  was  to  pay  the  town 
twenty  shilHngs  in  money,  but  "she  being  wilhng  to 
give  Liberty  to  the  Towne  for  theire  towne  meet- 
tings  to  be  kept  at  her  house,"  the  council  agreed  "  to 
accept  of  the  Same  ...  in  Lue  of  the  said  Twenty 
shilHngs." 

Two  years  before  Mary  Pray's  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1686,  her  son  Ephraim  took  over  the  license 
given  her  in  1681 .  Even  at  this  early  date  a  compet- 
itor had  entered  the  field,  and  a  rival  hostelry  now 
offered  the  town-meeting  not  house-room  only,  but 
"fire  roome  and  fireing  and  Candle  at  all  theire 
Towne  Meetings  and  Councill  meeteings,"  nor  does 
it  admit  of  doubt  that  the  inner  man  might  also  be 
warmed  and  comforted  should  the  necessity  arise. 
This  enterprising  competitor  was  no  other  than  the 
"likely"  John  Whipple,  Junior.  His  father  came  to 
Providence  in  1637,  received  a  grant  of  land  as  a  pur- 
chaser, united  with  the  church,  served  seven  terms  as 
deputy,  and  in  1674  had  a  license  granted  him  to 
keep  "an  ordinary."  When  he  died,  in  1685,  he  left 
a  large  property  in  land,  but  the  means  at  his  disposal 
"for  the  Entertainment  of  strangers"  impress  us  as 
somewhat  scanty.  He  had  one  feather  bed,  seven 
pewter  platters,  five  pewter  porringers,  three  old 
spoons,  —  and  a  family  of  eleven  children.  His  son, 
John,  Junior,  kept  a  tavern  for  many  years  on  what 
is  now  Mill  Street,  and  a  younger  son,  Joseph,  was 


12  8   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

also  at  one  time  a  licensed  innkeeper  within  the  town 
of  Providence. 

A  care  to  provide  for  the  comfort  and  entertain- 
ment of  strangers  is  but  one  of  many  indications  that 
a  period  of  recovery  from  the  devastation  caused  by 
the  war  had  fairly  begun.  As  early  as  1679,  Richard 
Smith  of  Cawcawmsqussick  wrote  of  the  harvest: 
**a  greate  yeare  for  frute  and  Coren;  Sider  in  abun- 
dance." It  was  in  February,  1679,  that  a  price-list  of 
land  and  livestock  was  drawn  up  for  the  guidance  of 
the  assessors  who  were  about  to  levy  a  town  rate. 
From  this  we  learn  that  improved  meadow  land  was 
worth  four  pounds  an  acre.  Planting-land  brought 
three  pounds.  Unimproved  land  was  estimated  at 
three  shillings.  Oxen  were  valued  at  four  pounds; 
cows  at  three  pounds.  A  four-year-old  horse  was  also 
quoted  at  three  pounds.  Hogs  were  rated  at  fifteen 
shillings,  and  sheep  at  four  shillings.  Although  it  is 
explicitly  stated  that  "the  Rate-makers  are  not  soe 
strictly  tyed  up  to  the  instructions  .  .  .  but  that 
they  have  a  Libberty  to  vary  therefrom,"  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  above  list  gives  a  fair  aver- 
age price  for  staple  commodities.  The  price  of  un- 
improved land,  it  will  be  remarked,  had  gone  from 
sixpence  per  acre  to  three  shillings,  in  thirty  years. 

In  the  records  of  1680  there  appears  another  un- 
mistakable symptom  of  progress.  Pardon  Tillinghast 
asked  for,  and  obtained,  "a  little  Spott  of  Land 
against  [i.e.,  opposite]  his  dwelling  place  (above  high- 


The  Seventeenth  Century    1 2  9 

water  mark)  of  Twenty  Foott  Square,  for  building 
himselfe  A  store  house  with  the  prieveladge  of  A 
whorfe  Alsoe."  And  later  in  the  same  year,  Arthur 
Fenner,  who  was  usually  in  the  van  of  progress, 
obtained  a  similar  *'Spott  of  ground"  forty  feet 
square.  At  once  Edward  London,  Epenetus  Olney, 
George  Shepard,  and  Samuel  Whipple  "  desired  the 
town"  to  "accommodate"  them  in  like  manner.  In 
1681,  five  lots  of  "forty  feet  square  by  the  water 
side"  were  laid  out,  and  seven  in  1682. 

These  evidences  of  the  small  beginnings  of  the  sea- 
port life  of  Providence  take  to  themselves  an  addi- 
tional interest  as  we  read  the  Report  on  the  Colony 
of  Rhode  Island,  sent  by  Governor  Peleg  Sanford  to 
the  Lords  of  Trade  in  the  same  year  that  Pardon 
Tillinghast,  Arthur  Fenner,  and  others  set  about 
building  their  wharves  and  storehouses.  Governor 
Sanford  says  that  the  colony  has  no  commerce  with 
foreigners  or  with  Indians,  that  the  chief  exports  are 
horses  and  provisions,  and  that  "a  small  quantity  of 
Barbadoes  goods"  are  imported  "for  supply  of  our 
families."  "For  Merchants  wee  have  none,  but  the 
most  of  our  Colloney  live  comfortably  by  improvinge 
the  wildernesse.  Wee  have  no  shipinge  belonginge  to 
our  Colloney  but  only  a  few  sloopes."  And  he  adds 
that  "the  great  obstruction  concerninge  trade  is  the 
want  of  Merchants  and  Men  of  considerable  Estates 
amongst  us." 

Even  as  the  worthy  governor  wrote,  a  time  was  at 


1 3  o  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

hand  when  men  should  aspire  to  larger  and  more 
speedy  rewards  for  their  labor  than  could  be  secured 
"by  improvinge  the  wildernesse."  The  "spots  of 
ground"  laid  out  in  1680  and  the  subsequent  years 
were  the  modest  beginnings  of  the  long  row  of  "ware- 
house lots,"  which  by  the  end  of  another  sixty  years 
lined  the  water  side  of  theTowne  Street. 

Pardon  Tillinghast,  whose  storehouse  and  wharf  is 
first  on  the  list,  came  to  Providence  as  a  young  man 
in  time  to  be  enrolled  among  the  "quarter-rights" 
men ;  and  he  proved  himself  a  most  desirable  member 
of  the  little  township  in  which  he  passed  the  greater 
part  of  the  remaining  seventy  years  of  his  long  and 
useful  life.  He  was  born  in  Sussex,  England,  and  is 
credited  with  the  possession  of  military  experience 
gained  in  that  notable  organization  of  the  church 
militant,  the  New  Model  Army  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
Eventually,  he  appeared  in  Providence,  and  bought 
the  home  lot  which  was  assigned  to  Hugh  Bewit  in  the 
original  distribution  on  the  Towne  Street.  There  he 
built  the  dwelling-house  "against"  which  his  store- 
house and  " whorfe  "  were  to  stand.  He  was  a  cooper 
by  trade,  but,  like  most  enterprising  members  of  the 
new  settlement,  seems  to  have  tried  his  hand  at 
several  vocations.  It  is  certain  that  he  lived  at  New- 
port for  several  years,  but  the  greater  part  of  his  busy 
life  was  spent  at  Providence.  Here  he  kept  a  shop, 
very  probably  in  the  "store  house"  already  men- 
tioned.   In  1688,  his  estate,  as  rated  for  taxation, 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 3 1 

consisted  of  shop  goods  to  the  value  of  forty  pounds, 
four  acres  of  enclosed  land,  eighty  acres  of  vacant 
land,  two  shares  of  meadow,  four  cows,  three  heifers, 
twenty-four  sheep,  five  *' horse-kind,"  two  swine, 
part  of  two  boats,  and  *'a  little  sorry  housing."  In 
his  later  years,  —  and  he  lived  to  be  ninety-six,  —  he 
withdrew  from  active  business,  but  he  had  large  sums 
of  money  out  at  interest,  as  appears  by  the  inventory 
of  his  estate.  The  appraisers'  list  reads:  "due  by 
bonds  ;^i, 133.  18.0;  due  by  book  ;^9 1 ;  bills  of  credit 
;^I55.  4.  o;  silver  money  ;^88.  i8.  o."  His  family 
plate  was  summed  up  in  "one  silver  spoone." 

Although  Pardon  Tillinghast's  career  as  a  man  of 
business  was  marked  both  by  enterprise  and  success, 
he  is  most  conspicuously  remembered  for  his  con- 
nection with  the  Baptist  church  at  Providence, 
where  the  recollection  of  his  services  and  benefits 
has  been  gratefully  cherished.  He  was  a  firm  believer 
in  the  rite  known  as  the  "Laying  on  of  Hands," 
which  formed  the  distinguishing  tenet  of  the  so- 
called  "Six  Principle  Baptists,"  and  missed  no  op- 
portunity to  testify  to  the  truth,  as  it  had  been  made 
manifest  to  his  spirit.  As  an  elder  of  the  church,  such 
opportunities  were  frequently  at  his  disposal,  and  we 
cannot  doubt  that  many  a  Providence  congregation 
left  the  sanctuary  much  edified  by  his  eloquence. 

Like  all  elders  in  the  Baptist  communion.  Elder 
Tillinghast  received  no  pay  for  his  services.  The 
ministers  of  those  days  were  not  judged  unworthy  of 


132    Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

their  hire,  but  superior  to  it.  In  the  present  instance 
the  modern  procedure  was  reversed,  and  instead  of 
Pardon  TilHnghast  receiving  a  salary  from  the  mem- 
bers of  his  church,  he  presented  his  little  flock  with 
their  first  meeting-house.  In  171 1  he  deeded  "his 
house  called  the  Baptist  meeting  house,  situated  be- 
tween the  Town  Street  and  salt  water,  together  with 
the  lot  whereon  said  meeting  house  standeth,  to  the 
church,  for  the  Christian  love,  good  will  and  affection 
which  I  bear  to  the  church  of  Christ  in  said  Provi- 
dence." This  building  is  described  by  tradition  as 
being  "in  the  shape  of  a  hay  cap,  with  a  fireplace  in 
the  middle,  the  smoke  escaping  from  a  hole  in  the 
roof."  Crude  as  this  sounds,  we  may  well  believe 
that  the  comfort  of  this  primitive  structure  far  sur- 
passed that  of  the  more  elaborate  meeting-houses  of 
the  later  eighteenth  century,  which  were  totally  un- 
provided with  either  chimney  or  fire.  The  building 
stood  on  the  corner  of  North  Main  and  Smith  Streets. 
Although  Elder  TilHnghast  has  put  himself  on  re- 
cord as  unwilling  to  take  any  form  of  payment  for  his 
services,  he  also  declared  that  it  was  "the  duty  of  a 
church  to  contribute  towards  the  maintenance  of 
their  elders,"  and  as  such  should  be  "performed  to 
such  as  might  come  after  him."  It  was  not  "per- 
formed," however,  until  the  pastorate  of  Doctor 
Manning,  late  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  one 
remaining  family  burying-ground  of  those  belonging 
to  the  families  on  the  Towne  Street  is  that  of  Pardon 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 3  3 

Tillinghast.  It  is  on  Benefit  Street,  at  the  corner  of 
Transit,  and  contains  a  monument  to  the  memory  of 
the  founder  of  the  American  branch  of  the  family. 
Pardon  Tillinghast  was  twice  married.  He  had 
twelve  children  and  seventy-nine  grandchildren.  His 
numerous  descendants  have  ever  been  foremost  in 
all  good  works  and  public  enterprises.  Their  record 
redounds  no  less  creditably  to  the  memory  of  their 
"unblemished"  ancestor  than  does  the  long  tale  of 
his  worth  to  their  pride  and  honor. 

In  the  course  of  nature  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  the  party  of  progress  should  have  everything  its 
own  way.  An  amusing  incident,  which  may  serve  to 
illustrate  not  only  the  poverty,  but  the  lack  of  enter- 
prise of  the  average  townsman,  is  first  touched  on  in 
the  town-meeting  of  December  7,  1681,  when  *'one 
Thomas  Copper"  is  described  as  being  in  the  town 
"only  upon  sufferance"  and  yet  "like  to  make  great 
waste  of  our  pitch  wood  by  running  of  tar,"  where- 
fore the  town  is  "prayed"  "to  take  some  speedy  care 
to  prevent  it."  This  timely  warning  did  not  fail  of  its 
effect.  Only  a  week  had  passed  before  it  was  voted 
that  "whereas  this  Towne  of  providence  hath  long 
Experienced  the  Great  Bennifitt  that  they  have  had 
by  there  pitchwood  for  Candell  light,"  as  well  as  the 
"great  Inconveiniencye  which  they  may  be  made 
partakers  of  "  should  this  blessing  be  snatched  from 
them,  all  persons  who  are  determined  "to  propagate 
the  running  of  Tarr  from  pitchwood ;  As  also  of 


134   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

pitchwood  to  make  Coal,"  are  strictly  forbidden  to 
engage  in  these  nefarious  practices  under  penalty  of 
forfeiting  the  products  of  their  labor,  —  unless,  in- 
deed, they  are  "inhabitants"  of  the  town.  In  that 
case  each  man  may  "run"  ten  gallons  "for  his  own 
proper  use."  Candles  were  still  too  great  a  luxury 
for  use  in  illumination, unless  it  was  desired  to  watch 
the  flight  of  time. 

In  this  same  year  (1681)  the  sale  of  the  house  and 
lot  of  one  John  Jones  was  ordered  by  the  town,  "by 
reason  of  his  incapassity  to  maintaine  himselfe  and 
make  the  best  of  his  Estate."  The  sale  was  made  to 
the  highest  bidder,  "by  the  inch  of  the  Candle." 
When  once  the  inch-mark  was  reached,  the  hammer 
fell,  and  the  property  changed  owners.  John  Jones's 
estate  was  handed  over  to  Thomas  Harris  for  the 
sum  of  ;^I7.  6.  o.  He  was  to  pay  one  third  in  silver, 
and  "the  other  two  Thirds  as  money,  &  in  such 
things  as  two  men  appoynted  by  theTowne  shall  see 
it  be  needfull  for  the  said  Joanes  releife."  Two  years 
later  "John  Jones  his  lott"  again  makes  its  appear- 
ance, as  the  first  piece  of  real  estate  on  record  to  be 
provided  with  a  sidewalk.  Joseph  Smith  was  given 
"forty  feet  square  of  land  all  the  breadth  of  the  said 
lott,  upon  this  Condition  that  he  shall  lay  a  row  of 
steping  stones  acrosse  the  said  lotts  End  close  by  the 
fence  for  people  to  passe,  &  repasse  upon." 

It  was  not  long  after  that  expansion  of  the  town's 
trade  which   found   expression   in   a   demand   for 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 3  5 

"whorfes,"  that  Roger  Williams,  the  founder  of  that 
church  whose  *' hay-cap  "-like  meeting-house  he 
did  not  live  to  see,  wrote  to  his  friend  Governor 
Bradstreet,  of  Massachusetts,  his  last  letter  of  which 
we  have  knowledge.  This  letter  dwells  especially  on 
his  work  as  a  preacher.  He  says  that  "being  old  and 
weak  and  bruised,"  and  having  "lameness  on  both 
feet,"  he  has  collected,  by  his  fireside,  "the  dis- 
courses which  (by  many  tedious  journeys)  I  have 
had  with  the  scattered  English  at  Narragansett, 
before  the  war  and  since."  They  amount  to  "near 
30  sheets"  of  his  writing,  and  there  is  "no  contro- 
versy in  them."  He  wishes  to  appeal,  through  Brad- 
street,  to  any  "that  hath  a  shilling  and  a  heart  to 
countenance  and  promote  such  a  soul  work"  as  the 
printing  of  these  discourses,  or  sermons.  "Sir,  I 
shall  humbly  wait  for  your  advice,"  he  concludes, 
"where  it  may  best  be  printed,  at  Boston  or  Cam- 
bridge, and  for  how  much,  the  printer  finding  the 
paper."    [Dated,  Providence,  May  6,  1682.] 

It  would  seem  that  the  Narraganset  trading-post 
was  utilized  by  Roger  Williams  as  a  mission  station 
to  almost  the  close  of  his  life.  Callender  says  in  his 
well-known  Historical  Discourse,  that  he  was  told  in 
1738,  by  people  who  had  known  Roger  Williams, 
"  that  he  used  to  uphold  a  public  worship,  sometimes, 
tho'  not  weekly  [presumably  at  Providence]  .  .  . 
and  he  used  to  go  once  a  month,  for  many  years,  to 
Mr.  Smith's  in  the  Narragansett,  for  the  same  end." 


1 3  6    Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 


It  was,  at  the  time  of  writing  the  letter  quoted 
above,  but  a  little  over  six  months  since  Roger 
Williams  had  ceased  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  town  affairs.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
previous  October  his  name  appears  in  an  official 
capacity  for  the  last  time  on  the  town  records.  No 
doubt  his  few  remaining  days  were  passed  for  the 
most  part  by  his  fireside,  in  revising  his  "  discourses." 
He  died  in  the  spring  of  1683.  A  certain  John  Thorn- 
ton, of  Providence,  writing  on  May  10  to  his  friend 
Samuel  Hubbard  at  Newport,  says:  "The  Lord  hath 
arrested  by  death  our  ancient  approved  friend  Mr. 
Roger  Williams."  No  more  definite  record  of  his  end 
exists,  nor  is  it  known  definitely  where  he  was  buried. 

Roger  Williams's  second  daughter,  Freeborn,  has 
the  key  to  the  first  chapter  of  her  history  given  in  a 
letter  of  her  father's,  written  in  1656,  to  Governor 
Endicott,  of  Massachusetts.  It  reads:  "this  bearer 
Mr.  Hart  a  Young  shipmaster  (who  now  maketh 
Love  to  my  second  daughter  Freeborne)  is  bound 
for  Salem  about  a  Vessell."  As  a  young  shipmaster. 
Hart  naturally  found  Newport  a  more  promising 
base  of  operations  than  poor  little  Providence,  and 
there  he  and  his  wife  made  their  home,  and  that  of 
their  four  children. 

In  1 67 1, Thomas  Hart  died,  and  twelve  years  later 
his  widow  began  the  second  chapter  in  her  life's 
romance.  In  the  opening  years  of  the  history  of 
the  little  town  of  Providence,  we  may  fancy  Roger 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 3  7 

Williams's  family  of  five  children  living  on  the 
Towne  Street,  in  a  state  of  almost  comfortless  sim- 
plicity, to  be  sure,  but  with  the  contentment  and 
childish  gayety  that  thrive  on  a  hardy  open-air  exist- 
ence. On  the  next  home  lot  to  the  north  dwelt  Rich- 
ard Scott, —  likewise  a  "first-comer,"  —  with  his 
family.  Roger  and  Friend  Richard  were  far  from 
seeing  eye  to  eye  in  matters  of  creed,  or  as  regards 
that  social  deportment  which  is  a  part  of  the  Quaker 
doctrine ;  but  the  boundaries  of  the  home  lots  were 
seldom  marked  by  fences  in  those  days,  and  it  is 
probable  that  complete  liberty  of  action  and  of 
conscience  was  found  in  all  neighborly  intercourse 
between  the  families  of  Williams  and  Scott.  While 
Roger  Williams  might  have  forbidden  his  children  to 
partake  of  his  Lord's  Supper  in  the  company  of  those 
whom  he  regarded  as  steeped  in  the  heresy  of  the 
Quakers,  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  he  would 
have  extended  his  prohibition  to  clam-digging,  or 
even  mudpie-making. 

Hannah  Scott  was  the  second  daughter  of  the 
family,  a  girl  seven  years  younger  than  Freeborn 
Williams,  whom  she  must  have  known  chiefly  as  the 
companion  of  her  older  sister,  Mary  Scott.  When,  in 
1667,  Hannah  married  Walter  Clarke  and  went  to 
her  new  home  in  Newport,  Freeborn  Hart  had  al- 
ready a  family  of  three  children  growing  up  around 
her  in  that  pleasant  town.  Four  years  later,  in  1671, 
Thomas  Hart,  shipmaster,  died,  and  it  was  found 


1 3  8  Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

that  he  had  named  Walter  Clarke  as  one  of  the  exe- 
cutors of  his  will.  At  that  time  Walter  Clarke  had 
barely  begun  his  long  political  career,  which  fills  the 
years  from  1673  to  his  death  in  17 14.  He  was  four 
times  assistant,  six  times  governor  of  the  colony,  and 
twenty-three  times  deputy  governor.  It  was  as 
governor  that  he  wrote  the  letter  to  Captain  Fenner, 
quoted  in  an  earlier  chapter,  wherein  he  animadverts 
on  Fenner's  attitude,  and  explains  the  position  of 
Newport  towards  "the  outlying  towns"  at  the  time 
of  the  Indian  war.  He  was  a  widower  with  three 
children  when  he  married  Hannah  Scott,  within  a 
year  of  his  first  wife's  death.  In  1681,  he  was  once 
more  a  widower,  with  a  family  of  seven  children,  the 
oldest  of  whom  was  seventeen.  His  experience  of  life 
in  a  seaport  town  had  doubtless  convinced  him  of  the 
truth  of  the  adage  that  "there  are  as  good  fish  in  the 
sea  as  ever  were  caught,"  for  within  two  years  he  was 
again  married,  and  this  time  to  Freeborn  Williams 
Hart.  On  her  death,  in  17 10,  he  endowed  a  fourth 
wife  with  his  worldly  goods,  and  she  survived  him. 
When  Freeborn  Hart  became  Freeborn  Clarke, 
and  thereby  consented  to  take  the  place  of  mother  to 
seven  stepsons  and  daughters  as  well  as  to  her  own 
four  children,  we  may  wonder  if  a  thought  crossed 
her  mind  of  the  possibilities  involved  in  such  an 
arrangement.  Whether  this  was  the  case  or  not,  she 
must  have  watched,  with  that  tender  interest  which 
the  recollection  of  our  childhood's  days  awakens  in 


The  Seventeenth  Century    ^  39 

each  of  us,  the  wooing  of  the  daughter  of  her  old 
playmate,  Hannah  Scott,  by  her  own  son,  James. 

We  may  assume  that  Frances  Clarke  was  married 
to  James  Hart  in  169 1,  or  1692.  The  chapter  of  their 
romance  drew  swiftly  to  a  tragic  end.  In  1693, 
Frances  —  even  then  a  girl  of  only  twenty  —  was 
laid  in  her  grave,  whither  in  less  than  a  month  her 
young  husband  followed  her. 

The  third  daughter  of  Roger  Williams  was  called 
Mercy.  When  twenty-one  she  married  Resolved 
Waterman.  The  father  of  Resolved,  Richard  by 
name,  came  to  Providence  in  1638,  and  was  one  of 
the  twelve  original  proprietors.  Later,  he  became  one 
of  the  purchasers  of  Shawomet,  or  Warwick,  and  was 
among  the  little  band  of  Gortonists  taken  to  Boston 
by  the  A^lassachusetts  crusaders,  in  1643.  Waterman 
was,  with  the  others,  arraigned  before  the  court  at 
Boston.  A  fine  was  imposed,  which  he  paid,  but  was 
once  again  arrested,  and  "being  found  erroneous, 
heretical,  and  obstinate,"  was  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment until  the  following  September.  He  was  then 
banished  from  Massachusetts,  and  forbidden  to 
return  under  penalty  of  death.  The  temptation  to 
wander  within  the  precincts  of  the  Bay  Colony  can 
hardly  have  been  great,  unless,  indeed,  Waterman 
had  something  of  the  missionary  spirit  in  his  compo- 
sition. Later,  he  appears  to  have  become  a  Quaker, 
for  his  death  is  noted  on  the  records  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.   His  son,  Resolved,  who  was  a  boy  at  the 


140  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

time  of  the  raid  on  Shawomet,  died  in  1670,  after  a 
married  life  of  eleven  years,  leaving  a  wife  and  five 
children.  Seven  years  after  his  death  his  widow 
married  Samuel  Winsor,  also  of  Providence.  Their 
son  Samuel  became,  in  1733,  minister  of  the  Baptist 
church,  where  he  spent  a  long,  and  doubtless  a  useful, 
pastorate  of  twenty-five  years.  Morgan  Edwards 
speaks  of  him  as  "a  man  remarkable  for  preaching 
against  paying  ministers,  and  for  refusing  invitations 
to  Sunday  dinners  for  fear  they  should  be  consider- 
ations for  Sunday  sermons." 

Roger  Williams  was  blessed  with  three  sons  as  well 
as  the  daughters  whose  biographies  have  been  out- 
lined. Of  his  sons,  the  oldest  was  Providence,  born  in 
1638.  He  made  his  home  at  Newport,  and  was  a 
shopkeeper  and  shipmaster,  if  we  may  trust  circum- 
stantial evidence  as  to  his  means  of  livelihood.  He 
had  a  sloop,  and  of  sufficient  size  to  "clear  the  town 
of  all  the  Indians"  remaining  as  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  English  after  the  close  of  the  war,  in 
1676.  In  1682  the  town  of  Providence  gave  him  "a 
little  piece  of  Ground  to  sett  up  a  ware-house,  with 
the  privilege  of  a  warfe.  Against  the  Towne  lane  by 
Daniel  Williams."  The  aforesaid  "  Towne  lane  "  was 
the  present  Power  Street.  Providence  Williams  died 
unmarried,  in  1686.  His  inventory  plainly  shows  the 
nature  of  his  business,  and  gives  some  interesting 
indications  also  of  the  wants  of  his  customers,  who 
(to  judge  from  his  stock  in  trade)  were  red  as  well  as 


The  Seventeenth  Century     1 4 1 

white.  Among  his  effects  were  three  pairs  of  steel- 
yards, two  pairs  of  brass  scales  and  a  nest  of  weights, 
twenty-five  gallons  of  rum,  twenty  pipes,  a  broken 
parcel  of  silk,  beads  of  glass,  jew's-harps,  buttons, 
about  four  thousand  pins,  five  Bermuda  baskets, 
knives,  scissors,  knitting-needles,  silk  crape,  a  Bible, 
and  a  "  lex  mercatory  "  {Lex  Mercatoria). 

The  second  brother,  Daniel,  took  up  his  abode  in 
Providence,  where  he  found  ample  opportunity  to 
satisfy  such  trading  instincts  as  he  possessed  by  deal- 
ing in  real  estate.  In  1662,  he  and  his  younger 
brother  Joseph  were  each  granted  "a  purchase  right 
of  land,"  in  consideration  *'of  some  Courtesies  re- 
ceived from  Mr.  [Roger]  Williams,"  although  the 
town  at  the  same  time  ordered  that  no  other  request 
for  purchase  rights  should  be  granted.  A  year  later 
the  purchasers  concluded  that  there  should  ''not  be 
any  more  people  acomedated  with  land  as  purchas- 
ers." It  was  fifteen  years  after  he  was  enrolled  among 
the  Providence  purchasers  before  Daniel  took  to  him- 
self a  wife.  In  1676,  he  married  Rebecca,  the  widow 
of  Nicholas  Power,  whose  husband  —  just  a  year 
before  —  had  been  killed  in  the  Great  Swamp  Fight 
of  December,  1675.  Her  marriage  with  Daniel 
Williams  was,  says  Roger  Williams,  who  as  town- 
clerk  entered  it  on  the  records,  "the  first  Mariage 
since  God  mercifully  restored  the  Towne  of  Provi- 
dence." 

In  1 710,  Daniel  found,  or  made,  occasion  to  write 


142  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

a  letter  to  the  town  of  Providence  respecting  the 
bounds  of  the  Providence  purchase,  and  in  this  epis- 
tle he  says  of  his  father:  "Can  you  find  such  another 
now  aHve,  or  in  this  age?  He  gave  away  his  lands 
and  other  estate,  to  them  that  he  thought  most  in 
want,  until  he  gave  away  all,  so  that  he  had  nothing 
to  help  himself,  so  that  he  not  being  in  a  way  to  get 
for  his  supply,  and  being  ancient,  it  must  needs  pinch 
somewhere.  I  do  not  say  what  I  have  done  for  both 
father  and  mother :  I  judge  they  wanted  nothing  that 
was  convenient  for  ancient  people.  What  my  father 
gave,  I  believe  he  had  a  good  intent  in  it,  and  thought 
God  would  provide  for  his  family.  He  never  gave  me 
but  about  three  acres  of  land,  and  but  a  little  afore  he 
deceased.  It  looked  hard,  that  out  of  so  much  at  his 
disposing,  I  should  have  so  little,  and  he  so  little." 
All  honor  to  Daniel  for  his  filial  piety!  Lest  we  should 
be  led  to  think  of  him  as  unduly  "pinched"  by  his 
praiseworthy  efi^orts  in  behalf  of  his  aged  parents,  it 
maybe  as  well  to  bear  in  mind  the  very  ample  provis- 
ion which  he  made  for  the  needs  of  his  own  family, 
just  before  his  death,  two  years  after  penning  the  above 
letter.  He  conveyed  by  deeds,  lands  and  dwelling- 
houses  to  his  two  younger  sons;  he  provided  "rea- 
sonable privileges"  to  his  wife;  and  deeded  to  his 
daughter  Patience,  five  acres  of  land,  "a  negro  girl 
Ann,"  four  cows,  and  "  the  goods  she  hath  in  chests 
and  trunks."  The  eldest  son,  Peleg,  must  have  been 
already  provided  for,  and  probably,  as  being  the 


Joseph  Williams  House 

Built  by  the  son  of  Roger  Williams.  Formerly  stood  on 
Elmwood  Avenue  and  was  torn  down  in  1886.  From  a 
water-color  drawing  made  in  1858  by  Edward  L.  Peck- 
ham,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


"^p-roH  8MAijjiW  Hqaaoj, 

.  inRtWi  If  i3go^  lo  no8  arij  ^d  il'iuS. 
<i  ni  nwob  moi  is.fr  bn£  aunavA  boowxnlil 

jiioJaill  bfifilal  obofl^I  3flJ  ni  <mfifl 


The  Seventeenth  Century    143 

eldest  son,  received  a  more  liberal  share  of  the  estate 
than  his  brothers. 

The  third  and  youngest  of  the  Williams  brothers 
was  named,  appropriately,  Joseph.  As  a  boy  he  was 
somewhat  delicate.  In  1660,  his  father  wrote  to 
Winthrop :  "  My  youngest  son,  Joseph,  was  troubled 
with  a  spice  of  an  epilepsy:  We  used  some  remedies, 
but  it  hath  pleased  God,  by  his  taking  of  tobacco, 
perfectly,  as  we  hope,  to  cure  him."  Does  it  argue 
degeneracy,  or  progression,  that  tobacco  is,  nowa- 
days, warranted  to  kill,  —  not  cure.^  When  a  young 
man  of  twenty-six,  Joseph  married  Lydia,  the  second 
daughter  and  youngest  child  of  our  old  acquaintance, 
Thomas  Olney,  Senior.  Perhaps  he  was  a  member  of 
the  valiant  Train  Band,  commanded  by  his  father, 
whose  authority,  it  is  well  to  remember,  was  not  to  be 
"eclipsed"  even  by  that  of  the  colony's  commander- 
in-chief,  Captain  Arthur  Fenner. 

Joseph  Williams's  gravestone  still  testifies  to  his 
services  in  the  Indian  war  of  1676.  He  was  a  man 
of  considerable  prominence,  and  not  without  honor 
even  in  his  own  country.  He  served  repeatedly  as 
deputy  in  the  colonial  assembly,  as  member  of  the 
town  council,  and  as  assistant.  When  he  died,  in 
1724,  he  left  an  estate  of  seven  hundred  and  thirty 
acres.  The  dwelling-house,  orchard,  etc.,  at  Masha- 
paug  went  to  his  son  James,  who  was  especially  en- 
joined "to  provide  for  his  Mother  my  said  loveing 
Wife  Lidia  Williams  all  things  that  shee  shall  have 


1 44  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

neede  of  and  that  are  necessary  for  an  antiant  woman 
dureing  the  full  term  of  her  naturall  Life."  His 
" loveing  wife '*  survived  him  only  three  weeks.  She, 
her  husband,  and  many  of  their  descendants  were 
buried  on  the  homestead  farm  at  Mashapaug,  on 
land  which  is  now  within  the  limits  of  Roger  Williams 
Park,  in  Providence. 

There  can  be  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the  last 
years  of  Roger  Williams  —  "The  Father  of  Provi- 
dence, the  Founder  of  the  Colony,  and  of  Liberty  of 
Conscience"  —  were  passed,  as  he  himself  describes 
them,  "by  the  fireside,"  amid  his  children  and  grand- 
children. The  increasing  infirmities  of  age  would 
have  prevented  his  taking  an  active  part  in  the  afi^airs 
of  the  town,  had  he  not  been  living  close  at  hand,  and 
we  may  plausibly  assume  that  he  lived  with  his  son 
Daniel,  at  the  south  end  of  the  Towne  Street,  as  is 
suggested  by  Daniel's  letter,  already  quoted. 


Chapter  V 


A  GROUP  OF  NEWCOMERS  AND  KING'S 
CHURCH 

THE  history  of  the  first  sixty  years  of  the 
Providence  Plantation  is  almost  unmarked 
by  attempts  to  mitigate  the  solitude  of  the 
wilderness  through  intercourse  with  other  commun- 
ities. The  nearest  neighbors  were  at  Rehoboth,  a 
flourishing  settlement  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  with 
whose  well-to-do  townspeople  Providence  main- 
tained a  somewhat  desultory  interchange  of  com- 
modities and  courtesies,  —  an  interchange  brought 
about  rather  by  the  necessities  of  circumstance  than 
by  any  bond  of  sympathetic  fellowship.  Indeed,  the 
"proximity  of  Providence  .  .  .  where  there  was  a 
universal  toleration  .  .  .  and  principle,  fancy,  whim 
and  conscience,  all  conspired  to  lessen  the  veneration 
for  ecclesiastical  authority,"  was  not  regarded  with 
unqualified  approbation  by  her  neighbors  in  Massa- 
chusetts. But  as  the  years  slipped  by,  and  the  cause 
of  truth  was  seen  to  prosper,  in  spite  of  dealings  with 
the  unregenerate  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Seekonk, 
disquietude  died  away.  At  length  the  demands  of 
constant  iniercourse  made  apparent  the  need  of 
better  facilities  for  transportation.  Before  1668  we 
find  a  ferry  of  some  sort  at  "the  place  called  the  Nar- 
row passage,"  where  Red  Bridge  now  stands.  That 


146    ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

it  speedily  justified  its  existence  may  be  inferred  from 
a  request  of  Captain  Andrew  Edmonds,  to  the  effect 
that  he  might  receive  at  the  hands  of  his  grateful 
countrymen  "  in  referance  to  his  service  done  in  the 
warr  time  .  .  .  aboute  two  Acars  of  Land  .  .  . 
neere  the  water  side  at  the  place  .  .  .  commonly 
Called  the  narrow  passage  ...  for  the  building  him 
a  house;  he  intending  the  keeping  of  a  Ferry  he 
saith."  His  petition  was  presented  in  1679,  after  the 
cessation  of  the  alarms  and  excursions  incident  to 
King  Philip's  War.  The  town  met  their  first  veteran 
more  than  halfway,  and  promptly  presented  him 
with  "four  Acars  of  Land  .  .  .  retaining  to  the 
townes  use  a  suitable  and  Conveinent  prievelledge 
not  with  standing." 

Although  the  bounds  of  the  Captain's  grant  were 
not  "laid  down"  until  1687,  we  cannot  suppose  that 
he  delayed  many  months  before  putting  up  his  house 
and  "keeping"  his  ferry.  Before  the  surveyor's 
formalities  in  this  matter  were  entered  on  the  town 
records,  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  had  brought 
into  existence  another  outlet  for  the  growing  industry 
and  enterprise  of  the  little  settlement.  During  the  in- 
terim between  haytime  and  harvest,  in  the  summer  of 
1684,  orders  were  issued  to  the  town-clerk —  the  son 
of  our  old  acquaintance,  Thomas  Olney,  Senior — 
"to  send  some  lines  unto  the  Towne  of  Rehoboth," 
on  behalf  of  the  town  of  Providence,  to  say  that  "Our 
Towne  haveing  taken  into  Consideration  the  Neces- 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     147 

sitye  of  a  Road-way  through  the  Countrey  for  Trav- 
ellers to  passe,  have  Errected  ...  a  way  through 
our  Towneshipp  over  Pawtuckett  River  ...  a  little 
up  the  streame  from  the  place  where  mr  Blaxton  his 
house  formerly  stood,  at  the  ancient  Roade  way  the 
which  leadeth  to  the  plaine  on  your  side  of  the  River 
called  the  westerne  Plaine"  (now  called  Seekonk 
Plain),  and  that  notice  of  this  improvement  was  thus 
formally  given  that  the  townspeople  of  Rehoboth 
"may  doe  the  like."  "Mr.  Blaxton  his  house"  was 
the  well-known  residence  of  the  recluse  and  student, 
William  Blackstone.  It  stood  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Pawtucket,  or  Blackstone  River,  about  three  miles 
above  the  present  city  of  Pawtucket,  and  just  within 
that  famous  debatable  ground  of  the  eighteenth 
century  known  as  the  "  Attleborough  Gore."  "  The 
county  road  leading  towards  Mendon"  was  also  laid 
out  by  Rehoboth  in  the  fall  of  this  same  year,  and 
served  to  connect  Providence,  as  well  as  Rehoboth, 
with  the  settlements  farther  north. 

From  this  time  forward  new  settlers  of  practical 
ability  and  progressive  ideas  began  to  appear  in  the 
town.  They  were  heralded  by  a  vanguard  of  transi- 
tory visitors  of  the  type  of  John  Brooks  of  Water- 
town,  who  brought  to  Providence  to  sell,  in  1699,  "a 
percell  of  Goodes  to  the  value  of  10  lb.  .  .  .  being 
Hatts,  stuffs,  &  silks,  &  some  other  small  Matters  as 
Needles  &c."  This  method  of  bringing  goods  in 
easily  portable  quantities  obtained  until  well  into 


148  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  eighteenth  century.  A  room  was  hired,  wares 
were  displayed,  and  after  a  few  days  of  barter  and 
bargain  the  pack  was  again  made  ready  for  the  road, 
Hghtened  by  the  amount  of  the  peddler's  bill  for 
board  and  lodging,  if  not  by  the  local  demand  for 
such  luxuries  as  hats  and  needles. 

The  casual  stranger  was,  indeed,  expected  to  show 
cause  for  coming  at  all,  and  also  to  explain  why  he 
should  not  be  speeded  on  his  way  without  delay.  At 
first  it  appeared  as  though  the  commendable  im- 
provements just  enumerated  were  made  rather  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  would-be  immigrants 
with  celerity  and  despatch  than  with  any  desire  to 
induce  outsiders  to  make  Providence  their  home. 
Men,  women,  and  children  were  unceremoniously 
warned  out  of  the  town  for  fear  that  in  time  to  come 
they  might  prove  "chargeable."  Particular  cases 
proved  so  numerous  that  in  1687  a  general  order  was 
issued  to  the  "select  men"  to  "Remoove  out  of  our 
towne  all  such  persons  who  in  their  judgments  may 
be  Chargeable  or  troublesom." 

There  were  exceptions  to  the  rule,  however,  and  no 
little  perspicacity  was  displayed  in  their  selection. 
A  notable  case  in  point  is  that  of  Gideon  Crawford, 
who,  in  1687,  "desired  of  the  towne  to  Reside 
amongst  them,  &  here  to  follow  his  way  of  dealeing 
in  goods."  The  town  promptly  "granted  him  Lib- 
erty so  to  doe."  This  leniency  was  amply  justified. 
Before  the  month  was  ended  the  "new-comer"  had 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     149 

married  Freelove  Fenner,  the  daughter  of  Captain 
Arthur,  a  woman  who  inherited  a  goodly  share  of 
her  father's  energy  and  business  abiHty,  and  proved 
herself  a  veritable  helpmate  to  the  rising  young  mer- 
chant. Crawford's  "way  of  dealeing  in  goods"  was 
sufficiently  acceptable  to  justify  him,  three  years 
later,  in  asking  for  ''aboutt  thirtie  Foot  of  ground 
Laying  by  the  watter  syd,"  next  the  warehouse  lot  of 
his  father-in-law,  and  across  the  way  from  that  lot  on 
the  Towne  Street  where,  at  a  later  day,  his  own  man- 
sion-house was  to  stand.  The  memory  of  his  ware- 
house and  wharf  is  still  preserved  for  us  in  the  busy 
thoroughfare  of  Crawford  Street,  where  paving- 
stones  have  displaced  the  river-bank,  and  electric 
cars  grind  back  and  forth  in  lieu  of  the  leisurely- 
moving  oldtime  sloops  and  schooners. 

Here  warehouses  were  built,  with  a  wharf  along- 
side the  channel,  and  soon  a  flourishing  business  was 
established  by  this  canny  Scot,  whose  estate,  on  his 
death  in  1707,  amounted  to  no  less  than  ;^i556,  ex- 
clusive of  "  book  debts,"  or  amounts  due  for  goods 
sold  on  credit. 

Two  boats  are  found  in  the  list  of  Gideon  Craw- 
ford's worldly  goods,  one,  "out  of  repare,"  the  other 
a  flat-bottomed  afi^air,  valued  at  one  pound,  fifteen 
shillings.  His  supply  of  "shopp  Goods"  came  to 
;^355.  9.  o,  and  there  were  ;^775. 10.  o  due  "by  bills 
&  bonds."  Several  articles  of  actual  luxury  appear 
among  the  items  of  household  furniture.  There  are 


1 5  o   Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

*'  Table  Cloaths  &  Napkins,  i  lookeing  glass,  Win- 
dow hangers,  Tables  &  Carpetts,"  for  a  carpet  was  in 
that  day  and  generation  the  covering  for  a  table  or 
cupboard,  not  for  a  floor.  The  supply  of  "plate"  is 
set  down  at  £i'>,.  ii.  o.  The  "bookes"  came  to  £\. 
12.  o.  His  capable  widow  at  once  determined  to 
continue  to  deal  in  goods,  in  her  husband's  stead, 
that  her  two  sons,  at  that  time  nineteen  and  fourteen 
years  of  age,  might  in  due  course  succeed  to  a  well- 
established  business.  She  survived  her  husband  only 
by  five  years,  but  they  were  years  of  moment,  for  the 
Crawford  family  in  particular  and  for  the  town  of 
Providence  in  general.  To  her  oldest  boy — "my 
son  William"  —  she  bequeathed  all  her  part  of  the 
sloop  Dolphin,  "it  being  already  registered  in  his 
name";  while  to  both  sons,  William  and  John,  was 
left  her  half  "of  the  sloop  building  by  Nathaniel 
Brown  of  Rehoboth."  Brown  was  another  "new- 
comer," and  the  proprietor  of  the  first  shipyard  on 
the  West  Side  of  the  Great  River. 

Mrs.  Crawford's  sons  married  sisters,  the  daugh- 
ters of  Colonel  Joseph  Whipple,  who  at  one  time  kept 
an  inn  on  Mill  Street,  but  is  better  known  to  local 
fame  as  a  well-to-do  merchant,  and  colonel  of  the 
regiment  of  militia  raised  on  the  mainland  in  17 19. 
He  long  outlived  his  sons-in-law,  William  and  John 
Crawford,  who  died  in  1720  and  17 19,  respectively. 
These  young  men  were  well  entitled  to  be  classed  as 
merchants,  in  the  larger  sense  of  that  somewhat 
elastic  term. 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 5  ^ 

Captain  John  Crawford  died  when  twenty-six.  He 
owned  books  which  were  valued  at  ;^8.  lo.  o,  while 
his  family  plate,  including  "silver  spoones  Porren- 
gers  Cupps  pepper  boxes  &  grator,"  amounted  to 
£'^0.  10.  o.  There  were  also  "2  Jappand  Tables." 
"2  boats  in  theire  now  Condition"  are  put  down  at 
;^io.  "  I  New  sloope  upon  the  stocks  almost  fin- 
ished" was  judged  to  be  worth  ■£%^.  "Lumber  on 
bord  the  sloope  Indian  King"  was  appraised  at  ;^89. 
07.  o,  and  "the  said  sloope  and  appurtinanses"  at 
;^2io.  His  stock  in  trade  included  "5  pipes  of  wine," 
molasses,  brandy,  cider,  indigo,  "stript  holland, 
muslin.  Calico,  bengall  tape,  Cambrick,  kenting,  Ala- 
mode  &  persian  silck  &  handkercheifs ;  Romaul  Lin- 
ing, Cantaloones  Crape  and  Caleminco,"  —  stuffs 
whose  very  names  are  mysteriously  suggestive  of  the 
burning  sun  and  spicy  breezes  of  the  southern  seas. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  if  Captain  John 
Crawford  purchased  his  stock  in  trade  of  the  mer- 
chants of  Newport,  already  a  well-known  centre  of 
maritime  interests,  or  if  the  Dutch  served  as  the 
means  of  communication  between  the  East  and  this 
remote  corner  of  the  Western  world.  Or  it  may  be 
that,  even  at  this  early  date  in  the  commercial  affairs 
of  Providence,  the  wide-awake  Yankees  of  Boston 
were  shipping  occasional  lots  of  assorted  merchandise 
to  be  sold  on  commission  by  the  Providence  traders. 
Some  thirty  years  later,  this  was  the  regular  course  of 
procedure.  Not  until  several  generations  have  come 


152    "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

and  gone  shall  we  find  Providence  merchantmen 
clearing  for  the  Orient. 

Both  John  and  William  Crawford  lived  at  the 
north  end  of  the  Towne  Street,  —  John  on  the  old 
John  Whipple  Inn  (1664)  lot,  at  the  corner  of 
Mill  Street.  His  next-door  neighbor  was  Jonathan 
Sprague,  famed  throughout  the  country-side  for  the 
rigor  and  vigor  with  which  he  upheld  the  orthodoxy 
of  the  "  Six-Principle  "  Baptists.  Captain  Crawford's 
house  was  greatly  admired  by  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, and  served  as  a  landmark  in  that  end  of  the 
town  for  many  years. 

The  personal  estate  of  Captain  Crawford's  brother, 
Major  William,  is  almost  overwhelming  in  the  sump- 
tuousness  of  its  household  appointments.  The  differ- 
ent rooms  are  carefully  designated.  There  was  an 
"East  Chamber,"  a  northwest  chamber,  a  "Create 
Chamber,"  a  "West  Chamber,"  a  garret,  a  "Create 
Roome"  (evidently  the  living-room),  a  "Bed 
Roome,"  a  dairy,  lean-to,  and  kitchen.  Then  come 
the  various  warehouses,  —  "  the  Rum  warehouse, 
the  Salt  warehouse,  the  north  warehouse,  the  shopp, 
and  the  back  shopp."  Besides  these  accommoda- 
tions, the  Major  owned  a  "new  house,"  and  two 
barns.  His  "sloope  ^arah  boate,"  evidently  named 
for  his  wife,  Sarah  Whipple,  was  appraised  at  four 
hundred  pounds.  In  the  "  back  shopp "  were  goods 
amounting  to  sixteen  pounds,  the  greater  part  being 
tools  of  different  sorts,  while  the  shop  proper  held 


Peter  Randall  House 

Opposite  the  North  Burying  Ground.  Built  about  1755. 
From  a  photograph  taken  in  1902. 


John  Crawford  House 

Mill  Street.  Built  about  1710,  torn  down  1898.  From 
a  photograph  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 
taken  in  1865. 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 5  3 

a  choice  and  varied  assortment  of  dry  goods.  Here 
were  combs,  buttons,  gloves,  "buckles  of  divers 
sorts,"  holland,  diaper,  silk  crape,  and  poplin,  to- 
gether with  whetstones,  seeds,  weights  and  scales, 
scythes,  beeswax,  and  "odd  things." 

The  Major  was  also  prepared  to  furnish  rum, 
sugar,  molasses,  salt,  wool,  tobacco,  and  grain  to  the 
public  of  Providence  and  vicinity.  His  market  ex- 
tended up  the  river  to  Pawtucket  and  the  farms  of 
Smithfield,  southward  to  the  settlers  along  the  line  of 
the  Narragansett  shore,  and  included  also  the  towns 
of  northeastern  Connecticut,  —  Woodstock,  Plain- 
field,  and  Pomfret.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
when  the  road  connecting  Pomfret  with  Providence 
was  completed  in  1721,  after  thirteen  years  of  toil 
and  stress,  the  first  care  of  its  capable  supervisor, 
Nathaniel  Sessions,  was  to  import  a  load  of  West- 
India  goods  from  the  enterprising  market-town  at 
the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay  for  the  delectation  of 
his  inland  neighbors.  It  was  then  ten  years  since  the 
town  of  Providence  had  "stated"  a  highway  from 
Captain  Fenner's  dwelling,  "westward  up  into  the 
Countrey  towards  Plainfield."  It  is  exceedingly 
doubtful,  however,  if  this  highway  could  be  traced 
otherwise  than  by  the  surveyor's  slashes  and  blazes, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  a  "  draught  of  the  said 
high  way"  was  duly  presented  to  the  town,  and  for- 
mally "perused,"  and  approved.  In  171 1,  the  Colo- 
nial Assembly  ordered  a  highway  "laid  out  .  .  . 


154    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

through  Providence,  Warwick,  and  West  Greenwich 
to  Plainfield,"  and  in  17 14  this  long-contemplated 
improvement  became  a  reality. 

The  year  171 1  was  signalized  by  another  under- 
taking of  great  moment.  There  still  exists  recorded 
evidence  to  show  that  in  January,  171 1,  there  was 
*'a  Bridg  building  or  at  least  some  progress  made  in 
order  thereunto,  over  the  passage  at  way  Bossett." 
Seven  years  earlier,  in  July,  1704,  it  had  been  sug- 
gested to  the  town-meeting  that  public  opinion 
should  be  sounded  as  to  the  advisability  of  building 
abridge  "from  the  Towne  side  of  the  salt  Water  .  .  . 
begining  against  the  West  End  of  the  lott  whereon 
Daniel  Abbott  his  dwelling  house  standeth  &  so 
Cross  the  Water  unto  the  hill  Called  Wayboysett." 
For,  since  the  day  when  George  Shepard's  donation 
had  been  conscientiously  returned  to  him  because  of 
the  town's  failure  "to  maintain  a  bridge  at  Waybos- 
set,"  the  "passing  to  &  from"  the  east  and  west 
banks  of  the  river  had  been  accomplished  by  means 
of  "Cannoes  &  Boates,  Rideing  &  Carting,  &  Swim- 
ming over  of  Cattell  from  side  to  side."  Nor  was  the 
voyage  without  its  difficulties.  The  town  records 
gravely  deplore  the  fact  that  the  stream  is  "often 
times  Running  so  swift,  &  many  times  Rough  Water 
by  Reason  of  stormy  Winds,  whereby  neither  Can- 
noes  Boates  nor  Cattell  swimming  can  make  any 
certain  place  to  land,  but  must  land  where  they  can 
git  on  shore." 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 5  5 

It  was  in  furtherance  of  this  desirable  termination 
of  the  voyage,  that  the  town  fathers  were  moved  to 
take  into  consideration  "how  greatly  detrementall" 
it  would  be  if  there  should  be  "a  grant  of  ware  house 
lotts  all  along  the  Salt  Water  by  the  Towne  Streete," 
and  to  decree  that  no  "ware  house  lotts"  should 
be  granted  from  Crawford  Street  on  the  south  to 
"  Thomas  Olney  senior  his  house  lott  which  was 
formerly  his  father's  dwelling  place,"  on  the  north. 

Further  investigation  leads  us  to  invest  this  out- 
burst of  humanitarian  enthusiasm  with  a  tinge  of 
self-interest.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the 
greater  proportion  of  travel  across  the  river,  whether 
by  man  or  beast,  was  by  means  of  the  ford  at  the 
"Wading  Place,"  while  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
farmers  of  the  settlement  objected  to  see  their  friends 
and  neighbors  in  "the  compact  part  of  the  town" 
parcel  out  warehouse  lots  and  wharf  privileges 
among  themselves,  to  the  detriment  of  future  "land 
dividends."  There  were  many  wheels  within  wheels 
to  be  found  in  the  governing  machinery  of  the  "  Pro- 
prietors' Meetings"  in  the  town  of  Providence,  nor 
was  the  town-meeting  unmoved  by  the  opposing 
claims  to  consideration  of  the  town  and  country 
factions. 

The  number  of  warehouse  lots  was,  then,  jealously 
restricted,  for  the  time  being.  The  bridge  was,  how- 
ever, permitted  to  occupy  that  portion  of  the  water- 
side explicitly  denoted  above. 


1 5  6   Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

A  little  to  the  south  of  the  proposed  bridge,  and 
*' against  the  southerne  part"  of  Thomas  Field's 
home  lot,  land  had  already  been  "laid  out"  for  the 
first  "  Towne  wharfe."  "The  aforesaid  Towne 
Wharfe  Place"  was  never  utilized,  however,  and 
when  the  Town  Wharf  became  a  reality  it  was  placed 
just  north  of  Weybosset  Bridge,  on  the  shore  where 
now  stands  the  Board  of  Trade  Building.  The  bridge 
which  was  in  process  of  construction  in  171 1  was, 
two  years  later,  an  accomplished  fact,  and  designated 
accordingly  as  "Providence  Bridge  at  Wayboysett" 
in  the  records  of  that  year. 

Thus  far,  the  tale  of  the  Providence  highways  has 
been  concerned  with  such  main  avenues  of  traffic  as 
might  serve  both  town  and  country  —  although  it 
may  be  added  that  the  distinction  between  rural  and 
urban  was  one  of  theory  far  more  than  of  fact.  Local 
accommodation  was  usually  a  matter  for  argument, 
often  decided  in  favor  of  the  farmers,  who  were  fre- 
quently given  permission  to  fence  in  the  highways 
with  their  fields,  providing  cart  gates  were  placed  at 
the  roadway  for  the  so-called  "  Conveniency  of  Pub- 
lick  passage." 

That  this  was  not  always  done  is  shown  by  the 
facts  narrated  in  the  bill  of  John  Dexter,  the  grand- 
son of  the  original  proprietor  of  that  name.  In  1720, 
Captain  Dexter  represented  his  situation  to  the  town 
as  follows.  A  lot  of  eighty  acres  having  been  "laid 
out  at  Scoakanoxit"  to  his  grandfather,  descended  by 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 5  7 

inheritance  to  himself.  There  he  had  Hved,  sown  his 
seed,  and  gathered  his  crops  for  six-and-twenty 
years.  Little  by  Httle,  during  that  time,  the  land 
around  him  had  been  taken  up,  until  the  road  leading 
to  town  was  completely  "stopped  up."  "So  that  I 
cannot  .  .  .  come  at  any  Road  That  Leads  Either  to 
mill  or  market  with  my  Team :  nor  yet  on  foot  nor  on 
horse  back,  but  as  I  have  leve  of  Jonathan  Sprague 
to  pass  through  his  meadow  &  ...  I  am  of  opinion 
that  this  .  .  .  will  be  the  first  precedent  that  Ever 
was  Set  in  New  England,  That  after  a  man  has  laid 
out  Land  &  built  upon  it,  for  other  men  to  lay  out 
Land  Round  his,  &  thereby  Compell  him  to  buy  a 
high  way  to  pass  off  his  own  land  to  get  into  a  comon 
Roade,"  said  the  justly  indignant  farmer,  who,  not 
without  reason,  desired  the  town  "  to  lay  out  a  con- 
veniant  high  way  .  .  .  to  pass  in  from  my  own  Land 
to  the  Road  which  comes  out  of  our  Northern  woods 
into  the  Town." 

John  Dexter's  predicament  belongs  to  a  class  of 
fairly  numerous  instances,  although  in  most  cases  of 
the  sort  a  public  utility  was  put  forward  by  the  com- 
plainant as  the  real  end  to  be  served.  When  Dexter 
wrote,  a  highway  had  already  been  "stated"  from 
Richard  Arnold's  mill  on  the  Wanasquatucket  to 
"Wainskuck,"  and  a  similar  convenience  in  getting 
to  town  was  granted  at  the  instance  of  the  farmers  in 
the  Neutaconkonet  district.  The  fertile  lands  of  the 
outlying  country  were  fast  being  utilized  to  raise 


158   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

crops  of  grain  and  hay,  and  harvests  of  wool.  When 
once  the  red  man  had  been  so  far  subdued  that  his 
white  "brotliers"  could  feel  that  he  existed  by  suffer- 
ance only,  a  great  expansion  of  the  colony's  field  of 
agricultural  operations  took  place.  Homesteads  on 
the  Towne  Street  fell  to  pieces,  and  home  lots  were 
used  for  pasturage,  while  the  Olneys,  Whipples,  Ab- 
botts, and  Watermans  went  north  and  west,  to  take 
up  the  land  and  possess  it. 

Their  place  in  the  town's  centre  was  filled,  little  by 
little,  with  newcomers.  Some  of  these  were  men  of 
small  means,  but  possessed  of  energy  and  ability 
enabling  them  to  work  their  way  upward.  The  aver- 
age newcomer  probably  remained  on  sufferance  for 
the  first  few  years.  Then  he  bought  a  little  land, 
and  plied  his  trade.  His  business  extended,  and  he 
opened  a  shop ;  perhaps  he  bought  a  warehouse  lot. 
The  next  step  would  be  a  wharf  and  boats,  at  least 
a  sloop.  At  this  point  his  investments  in  real  estate 
would  increase,  and  in  the  recorded  land  deeds  of 
these  later  years  of  a  long  and  prosperous  life,  we 
shall  find  our  investor  described  as  "gentleman,"  or 
"Esquire,"  having  previously  passed  through  the 
various  social  gradations,  as  "yeoman,"  "cooper," 
"trader,"  and  "merchant." 

As  a  rule,  craftsmen  were  welcomed.  In  1704, 
William  Edmunds  received  a  grant  of  "  forty  foote 
square  ...  he  being  desireous  to  follow  his  trade 
of  a  black  smith  with  in  this  Towne."  William  Smith 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 5  9 

was  "accommodated"  in  a  similar  manner,  "he 
being  desirous  to  follow  his  Weavours  Trade." 
There  were  pursuits,  however,  which  were  forbidden 
by  virtue  of  that  deep-rooted  conservatism  under- 
lying the  mental  operations  of  every  New-England 
farmer.  When  "one  Mr.  Gabriel  Bernon  Exhibited  a 
bill  desireing  .  .  .  theuseofall  the  pine  Trees  on  the 
black  hill  &  from  thence  to  Pawtucket  River  ...  to 
leake  them  &  make  Pitch  of  the  Tirpintine,"  mem- 
ories of  the  "pitch-wood  candles"  of  their  grand- 
fathers forbade  acquiescence,  and  the  "  Towne  did 
not  see  Cause  to  Grant  the  bill." 

This  enterprising  newcomer  was  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  valuable  of  those  civic  acquisitions 
whose  arrival  was  facilitated  by  better  communica- 
tion with  the  outside  world.  Gabriel  Bernon  was  a 
Huguenot  who  saw  ample  cause  to  leave  his  home  at 
Rochelle  in  those  ominous  years  preceding  the  Re- 
vocation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Like  many  another 
of  his  exiled  countrymen  he  went  to  Amsterdam,  and 
then  crossed  the  Channel,  but  after  a  short  residence 
in  England,  came  to  America.  As  a  merchant  of 
Rochelle  he  had  traded  in  the  fish  and  furs  of  Can- 
ada, and  knew  well  the  colonial  markets  and  the 
fast-growing  demand  for  English  goods  in  the  new 
communities  beyond  the  seas.  He  became  a  man  of 
considerable  wealth,  viewed  from  the  colonial  stand- 
point. Within  a  short  time  he  had  established  rosin 
and  salt  manufactures  at  Boston,  and  was  known  and 


1 6o   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

esteemed  far  beyond  the  borders  of  the  colony  in 
which  he  made  his  new  home.  From  Boston  he  went 
to  Newport,  and  from  there  to  Providence,  where  he 
became  perhaps  the  leading  member  in  a  little  group 
of  remarkable  men  whose  influence  made  itself  felt  in 
or  about  the  year  1720,  and  gained  strength  and  en- 
ergy from  the  fact  that  they  made  their  homes  in  one 
neighborhood. 

Several  of  these  newcomers  took  a  lively  and 
effective  interest  in  the  building-up  of  religious  soci- 
eties other  than  that  of  the  Baptists.  The  first  of  these 
efforts  to  arouse  a  more  active  interest  in  things  of  the 
spirit  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  King's  Church, 
in  1722. 

For  more  than  twenty  years  the  standard  of  the 
Church  of  England  had  been  ably  upheld  in  New- 
port, "the  metropolis"  of  the  colony.  As  early  as 
1702,  these  worthy  subjects  of  good  Queen  Anne 
could  boast  a  church  "finished  all  on  the  Outside, 
and  the  Inside  Pewed  well,  tho'  not  beautiful."  With 
the  aid  of  the  active  and  benevolent  "Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,"  a  clergyman  for  this 
parish  was  soon  forthcoming  in  the  person  of  James 
Honeyman. 

Mr.  Honeyman's  field  of  labor  was  bounded  only 
by  the  possible  extent  of  a  day's  ride  on  horseback. 
His  charge  included  several  towns  on  the  mainland, 
as  well  as  those  on  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  and  it 
was  to  him  that  the  little  band  of  the  faithful  in 


Relics  which  belonged  to  Gabriel  Bernon 

From  an  old  painting  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society.  The  original  relics  —  the  sword,  delft  jar,  gold 
rattle,  and  psalter  —  are  now  owned  by  the  Society, 


KOM^aS  jaiJiaA.0  or  aaawojaa  hoihw  eaua^ 

f     ■  n+^iTT  f:,i-ir>ir;T  T>f:or?5T  -jflj  ni  gniJnUq  bio  ns  raoi'*! 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 6 1 

Providence  turned  for  counsel  and  guidance.  It 
cannot  have  been  far  from  1720  when  he  wrote  to 
his  official  superiors  in  London  to  represent  "very 
earnestly  .  .  .  the  Want  of  a  Missionary  at  the 
Town  called  Providence,  ...  a  Place  very  con- 
siderable from  the  Number  of  its  Inhabitants,"  who 
—  sad  to  say —  "were  become  quite  rude,  and  void 
of  all  Knowledge  in  Religion;  yet  they  were  of  a  good 
and  teachable  Disposition."  At  a  later  time  he  wrote 
that  he  had  preached  in  Providence  "to  the  greatest 
Number  of  People,  that  he  ever  had  together  since  he 
came  to  America." 

This  newly  awakened  interest  in  religious  matters 
was  due  in  large  measure  to  the  efforts  of  Gabriel 
Bernon,  who  had  made  Providence  his  home,  surely 
since  17 10,  and,  it  may  be,  even  earlier.  His  request 
for  permission  "to  leake"  the  pine  trees  was  made  in 
1702.  Bernon  was  among  the  foremost  in  establish- 
ing the  Church  of  England  worship  at  Newport,  and 
in  the  Narraganset  country.  The  well-known  and 
indefatigable  Doctor  MacSparran  had  been  recently 
settled  as  incumbent  of  the  last-mentioned  parish, 
and  to  him  Bernon  and  his  friend,  "Mr.  Nathaniel 
Brown  of  Kittlepoint,"  applied  for  aid  to  institute  a 
similar  service  at  Providence. 

"Nathaniel  Brown  of  Kittlepoint"  has  already 
figured  in  the  industrial  annals  of  the  town.  He  it 
was  who  built  the  sloop  described  as  in  process  of 
construction  by  Mrs.  Freelove  Crawford,  in  her  last 


1 6  2    'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

will  and  testament.  In  January,  17 12,  he  was  given 
half  an  acre  of  land  "on  the  East  side  of  Waybosset 
Neck  adjoineing  to  the  salt  water  ...  for  building 
of  vessells  thereon."  This  grant  was  near  the  corner 
of  what  are  now  Pine  and  Orange  Streets.  At  a  later 
date  it  became  part  of  a  larger  shipyard  belonging  to 
Roger  Kinnicutt,  likewise  a  newcomer  from  the  Bay 
Colony.  No  sooner  was  his  grant  recorded  than  the 
enterprising  Mr.  Brown  was  ready  for  business,  and 
in  May  of  the  same  year  he  was  filling  orders  for  the 
mariners  and  merchants  of  Providence.  His  interest 
in  promoting  the  cause  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
the  town  was  as  practically  heartfelt  as  had  been  his 
zeal  to  establish  a  business  connection.  When  the 
moment  for  action  arrived,  and  his  fellow-worship- 
pers resolved  "to  get  a  minister  and  live  like  Chris- 
tians," it  was  Nathaniel  Brown  who  gave  the  lot 
on  the  Towne  Street,  where  the  present  St.  John's 
Church  stands,  "for  the  Glory  and  Honour  of  God, 
and  Promoting  the  Society  and  Communion  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  these  Remote  partes  of  the 
World,  as  the  same  is  by  law  established." 

Next  door  to  the  Church  with  which  he  thus  identi- 
fied himself  Nathaniel  Brown's  dwelling-house  was 
to  stand.  Mr.  Dorr  tells  us  that  it  was  of  two  stories, 
with  a  huge  brick  chimney  at  the  north  end,  and  that 
it  was  standing  in  1842.  It  is  interesting  to  think 
of  the  pious  warden  of  King's  Church  setting  up  his 
household  gods  on  the  home  lot  of  the  Quaker  en- 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     163 

thusiast,  Richard  Scott,  who,  many  a  long  year  be- 
fore, had  labored  in  the  interests  of  the  missionaries 
of  the  Friends  as  they  testified  to  the  faith  that  was  in 
them.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Towne  Street,  a 
little  further  north,  lived  Gabriel  Bernon  himself. 
Next  door  to  Bernon  was  William  Outram  or  Antrim, 
whom  Bernon  briefly  characterizes  in  a  letter  to  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Honeyman  as  *'a  mathematician." 

It  was  through  the  exertions  and  influence  of  such 
men  as  these,  backed  by  certain  of  the  more  progres- 
sive among  the  descendants  of  the  "first-comers," 
that  the  necessary  funds  for  building  King's  Church 
were  obtained.  The  estimable  Doctor  Humphreys, 
historian  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  has  given  us  an  account  of  the  Providence 
of  his  day,  from  the  Church  of  England  standpoint. 
"The  People  .  .  .  were  negligent  of  all  Religion  till 
about  the  Year  1722,"  he  says;  "the  very  best  were 
such  as  called  themselves  Baptists  or  Quakers,  but  it 
was  feared  many  were  Gortoneans  or  Deists."  He 
describes  the  town  as  twenty  miles  square,  with  a 
population  at  the  time  of  writing  (1728)  of  about  four 
thousand.  As  for  the  people,  who  "live  dispersed 
over  this  large  Township,  they  are  industrious,  em- 
ployed chiefly  in  Husbandry  &  Handy  crafts,  tho' 
very  lately  they  have  begun  to  enter  upon  Foreign 
Trade  &  Navigation."  "Out  of  all  these,  there  was  a 
small  Number,  who  .  .  .  seriously  reflecting  on  that 
irreligious  State  wherein  they  lived  .  .  .  began  to 


164   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

gather  Contributions  among  themselves.  .  .  .  The 
Chief  Contributor  was  Colonel  Joseph  Whipple," 
who  gave  one  hundred  pounds  and  "victualed"  the 
laborers.  This  was  the  father-in-law  of  William  and 
John  Crawford .  He  died  in  1 746,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
five.   Generous  outsiders  also  contributed. 

Not  improbably  the  two  hundred  pounds  given  by 
the  people  of  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  one 
hundred  pounds  which  came  from  Boston,  were  ob- 
tained through  the  efforts  of  Gabriel  Bernon,  who 
was  well  known  in  both  places,  and  esteemed  by  all 
who  knew  him.  Altogether,  there  were  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy  pounds  available  to  pay  for  the 
"  Timber  Building  ...  62  Feet  in  Length,  41  in 
Breadth,  &  26  high,"  which  was  "raised  on  St.  Bar- 
nabas Day,  1722." 

Just  a  week  before  this  date,  Gabriel  Bernon  had 
written  to  Mr.  Honeyman  to  represent  the  qualifica- 
tions essential  for  the  future  rector  of  King's  Church 
in  Providence.  After  some  discussion  of  the  subject, 
Mr.  Pigot,who  had  been  sent  to  Stratford,  Connecti- 
cut, by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
was  removed  to  Providence,  where,  says  Bernon,  we 
pray  God  he  will  prove  "a  good  and  orthodox  minis- 
ter." And  indeed,  this  worthy  divine  appears  to  have 
creditably  fulfilled  all  expectations.  His  congregation 
of  about  one  hundred  received  constant  additions, 
and  in  the  last  year  of  his  pastorate —  1727  —  he 
reported  to  the  Society  that  he  had  baptized  "eleven 


St.  John's  Church 

Built  1722  and  demolished  18 10.  From  a  drawing,  made 
by  Zachariah  Allen,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  Library. 


HOaUHO    8'viHO|.   .t8 

.jn'iffKih  R  moiT  .0181  boiiailornob  ban  ss^i  lltutl 
nnclel   abodil    oHl    nl    jtoK/i   dBiiBi!'ji:X  vd 

■,,>-,,[;  ]  ■,.•,;•.,,?. 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     165 

Children,  three  grown  Persons,  and  the  Communi- 
cants were  forty-four." 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Pigot  is  said  to  have  been  "of  a 
roving  disposition."  Whether  owing  to  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  "open  road,"  or  for  other  reasons,  his 
residence  in  Providence  terminated  in  1727.  His 
successor,  one  Joseph  O'Hara,  left  behind  him  a 
record  far  from  enviable.  His  estimable  contempo- 
rary, Mr.  Comer,  a  Baptist  minister  of  Newport, 
states  in  his  diary  that  after  O'Hara  "had  preached 
two  or  three  days,  .  .  .  he  published  himself  to  Mrs. 
Alice  Whipple  of  Providence,"  —  in  all  probability 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Joseph,  whose  social  promi- 
nence and  liberal  contributions  must  have  entitled 
him  to  a  leading  position  among  the  members  of  this 
little  flock.  But  alas!  for  Mrs.  Alice's  hopes  of  happi- 
ness. The  rumor  that  O'Hara  was  already  married 
crept  abroad,  and  was  speedily  confirmed  by  the 
appearance  of  his  wife  on  the  scene  of  action.  The 
unabashed  divine  vehemently  denied  her  claims, 
but,  says  Comer,  "he  was  defeated  of  his  intended 
match."  The  pious  narrator  straightway  proceeds 
to  point  the  moral  of  his  tale.  "'T  is  observed,"  he 
tells  us,  "  that  the  last  Lord's  Day  he  preached  in  the 
church,  he  was  by  an  extraordinary  gust  of  wind 
forced  out  of  the  church  in  the  time  of  service.  It 
blew  in  a  large  window  at  the  west  end,  and  very 
much  shook  the  whole  house.  The  next  Lord's  day 
his  people  refused  his  preaching." 


1 66    ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

O'Hara's  ejection  was  but  temporary.  For  some 
eight  months  longer  he  persisted  in  holding  his  posi- 
tion and  in  fulfilling  some  portion  of  its  functions.  It 
was  not  until  his  forcible  "breaking  open  the  doors 
of  the  church,  which  his  people  had  fastened  up," 
having  first  signified  their  lack  of  sympathy  by 
"hauling  him  out  of  his  pulpit,"  that  the  turbulent 
priest  was  finally  sent  to  jail  at  Newport  as  a  dis- 
turber of  the  peace,  and  thus  effectually  disposed  of. 

O'Hara  was  succeeded  by  Arthur  Browne,  also  an 
Irishman,  who  had  been  educated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  is  said  to  have  come  to  America  with 
Dean  Berkeley,  in  1729.  It  was  in  the  following  year 
that  Browne  entered  on  his  pastorate  in  Providence, 
where  he  soon  won  the  respect  and  affection  of  his 
people.  A  glebe  of  eighteen  acres,  with  a  dwelling- 
house,  was  presented  to  Browne  by  his  appreciative 
parishioners,  and  the  bread  thus  cast  upon  the  waters 
returned  to  the  little  congregation  in  true  scriptural 
fashion,  for  when  Arthur  Browne  removed  to  Ports- 
mouth he  presented  the  parish  with  the  glebe  and 
rectory  for  the  "  repairing  and  upholding  the  Church 
of  England  in  Providence." 

Until  within  a  few  years  the  old  parsonage  was 
still  standing  on  the  Swan  Point  Road,  now  alas! 
rechristened,  Morris  Avenue.  It  was  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  King's  Church  on  the  Towne  Street,  and  its 
somewhat  remote  situation  was  selected  for  the  great- 
er convenience  of  the   numerous  church-members 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     167 

living  in  Rehoboth,  who  were  thus  brought  more 
nearly  into  contact  with  their  church  and  its  rector. 
Rehoboth,  as  a  Massachusetts  town,  was  under  the 
domination  of  "  The  Standing  Order  "  of  Congre- 
gationalism, and  many  of  its  citizens  who  dissented 
from  the  established  creed  found  solace  in  this  neigh- 
borly shelter  for  spiritual  refugees.  The  parsonage 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Society  until  1794. 

Mr.  Browne's  pastorate  was  marked  by  another 
enterprise  of  no  little  pith  and  moment.  "A  Church 
schoolmaster,"  George  Taylor  by  name,  and  an 
Englishman,  was,  in  1735,  given  permission  by  the 
Colonial  Assembly  "to  keep  school  in  one  of  the 
chambers  of  the  county  house  at  Providence,"  under 
certain  specified  conditions,  one  of  which  was  that 
"the  glass  of  said  house"  should  be  kept  "in  con- 
stant good  repair."  It  was  left  to  the  schoolmaster  to 
decide  whether  this  desirable  consummation  should 
be  reached  by  means  of  a  precautionary  discipline, 
or  by  forced  contributions  in  the  event  of  actual 
damage.  Mr.  Taylor  was  also  required  to  "erect  a 
handsome  sundial  in  the  front  of  said  house,  both 
for  ornament  and  use."  In  the  absence  of  either 
town-clock  or  bell,  no  doubt  the  dial  filled  a  long- 
felt  want.  We  may  easily  imagine  each  urchin 
trudging  home  to  his  midday  dinner,  and  pausing 
to  note  the  creeping  shadow,  whose  progress  was  so 
wonderfully  slow  at  certain  times  of  the  day,  and 
so  astonishingly  rapid  at  others. 


1 6  8   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  educational  advantages  to  be  obtained  in  the 
Providence  of  the  "good  old  colony  times"  were 
chiefly  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  Land  for  a 
school  was,  it  is  true,  set  aside  in  1663,  and  formally 
designated  as  the  "school  house  lot."  But  twenty 
years  later,  Jonathan  Whipple,  Junior,  called  the 
attention  of  the  town-meeting  to  the  fact  that  the 
land  intended  "for  the  use  and  Bennifitt  of  a 
Schoole"  had  not  yet  been  "layd  out." 

Shortly  after  this,  William  Turpin,  innkeeper,  put 

in  a  "Humble  request"  wherein  he  styles  himself 

'now  schoolemaster  of  theTowne,"  and  desires  that 

*the  aforesaid  Land:  May  bee  forthwith  layd  out 

.  .  &  that  the  said  Master  or  his  heires  may  bee 
invested  in  the  said  Land  soe  long  as  hee  or  any  of 
them  shall  maintaine  that  worthy  art  of  Learneing." 
Our  knowledge  of  Turpin's  qualifications  to  "Main- 
taine that  worthy  art"  are  limited  to  the  conditions 
of  a  contract  signed  by  him  in  1684,  whereby  he  en- 
gaged to  furnish  little  Peregrine  Gardner  with  board 
and  schooling  for  one  year,  for  the  sum  of  six  pounds. 
One  half  the  year's  expenses  were  paid  in  beef,  pork, 
and  corn,  and  one  half  in  silver  money.  The  boy's 
course  of  study  was  also  stipulated.  He  was  to  be  in- 
structed in  reading  and  writing,  and  if  Mr.  Turpin 
had  the  gift  of  imparting  to  his  pupils  his  own  beauti- 
fully clear  handwriting,  his  "art"  was  surely  worthy 
of  perpetuation. 

Turning  from  this  circumscribed  field  of  action, 


Oath  of  Samuel  Winsor,  171 3 

Regarding  card-playing  by  William  Turpin  and  Edward 
Hawkins.  From  the  original  document  in  the  Moses 
Brown  Papers,  vol.  18,  p.  69,  in  the  Rhode  Island  His- 
torical Society. 


li\i  jii08niV/  jauMA2  -io  htaO 

biEwb3  bn&  niqiuT  mfiilliW  '^d  gnixRlq-biBO  gnibiB^asH 
803oM  sAi  ni  Jnamioob  Ifini§ho  arfj  moil  .sniiwKH 
-aiH  bnnlal  ahotifL  oAi  ni  ,9d  .q  ,8 1  .lov  ,8i^q£4  aftoiS. 


l%f 


I 


4  -^  i  ^  ^^  1  • 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     169 

Turpin  devoted  himself  to  real  estate  with  more 
marked  success.  The  Turpin  farm  at  the  north  end 
of  the  town  included  land  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
while  the  Turpin  Inn,  on  the  Towne  Street,  was  long 
a  favorite  centre  for  townsmen  and  councilmen, 
and  a  well-known  stopping-place  for  travellers.  Ten 
years  slipped  by  after  Turpin's  petition  in  the  inter- 
ests of  education,  before  the  town  finally  granted  "a 
small  spot  of  land  to  sett  a  schoole  house,"  near 
Dexter's  Lane  or  Stompers  Hill,  provided  that  the 
lot  was  improved  and  the  schoolhouse  built "  in  some 
Considerable  time."  Turpin's  name  is  among  those 
of  the  eight  substantial  townsmen  to  whom  this  grant 
was  made.  So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  its  condi- 
tions had  not  been  fulfilled  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  1709. 

That  public  opinion  in  Providence  would  have 
pronounced  the  "worthy  art  of  Learneing"  to  be 
among  the  luxuries  rather  than  the  necessities  of  life 
is  well  known.  The  neighboring  town  across  the 
Seekonk  made  provision  for  a  school  as  early  as  1677. 
In  1725,  John  Comer  records  in  his  diary  that  he  is 
engaged  to  teach  school  in  Swansea,  at  a  salary  of 
forty-four  pounds  a  year.  George  Taylor  received 
from  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
ten  pounds  a  year.  Two  years  after  his  installation 
as  schoolmaster  he  stated  that  he  had  twenty-three 
white  and  two  black  children  under  his  care,  whom 
he  catechised  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday.   The 


1 7  o   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

intervening  days  were  profitably  passed  in  explaining 
the  principles  of  religion,  which  they  had  learned  by 
heart.  Mr.  Taylor  was  warden  of  King's  Church  and 
justice  of  the  peace,  as  well  as  schoolmaster.  An 
ancient  silver  paten,  still  belonging  to  the  parish,  was 
presented  by  him.  It  bears  the  inscription,  *'An 
Oblation  of  G.  T.  Schoolmaster  for  the  Use  of  the 
Altar  in  the  Church  of  England,  at  Providence, 
N.  E.,  1748." 

Arthur  Browne's  successor,  the  Reverend  John 
Checkley,  was  a  man  of  varied  and  interesting  attrib- 
utes, who  had  proved  himself  a  worthy  soldier  of  the 
church  militant  long  before  he  was  enrolled  among 
the  leaders  of  its  army.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  in 
1680,  and  was  a  pupil  at  the  Boston  Latin  School. 
His  education  was  completed  at  Oxford,  and  he 
travelled  in  Europe  sufficiently  to  enable  him  to 
collect  books,  manuscripts,  and  paintings.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  a  man  of  extraordinary  intellectual 
ability,  and  a  keen  and  appreciative  scholar.  His 
conversational  powers  were  especially  extolled,  both 
for  the  elegance  and  ease  which  marked  his  words, 
and  for  his  racy  humor  and  inexhaustible  fund  of 
anecdote.  He  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  wits  of  his 
time,  and  his  bons-mots  were  current  for  a  whole 
generation. 

In  1717,  he  opened,  in  Boston,  a  variety  store, 
known  as  the  "Crown  and  Blue-Gate."  This  little 
shop  speedily  became  a  well-known  literary  and 


Title-page  of  Rev.  John  Checkley's   "Modest 
Proof,"  Boston,  1723. 

From  a  copy  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


T8aaoM"   eVaj^DanO  'auo\  .vail  -lo  aoA^-aJTiT 
.-"{ioiooS  IcohoJaJH  bni;!?.!  abotlH  sriJ  ni  yqoD  b  rnoi'i 


r 


MODEST   PROOl 

OF     THE 

Order  &  Government 

Settled  by  Chrift  and  his  Apoftlc^ 


I  N    r  H  L 


CHURCH 

BY    SHEWING 

I.  What  Sacred   Offices   were    Inilicutcd 
by  x\\Q,m. 

II.  How  thofc  Offices  H'crc  Diflin^uiflicd 

III.  That  they  were  to  be  Pcrpctu-al  and 
Standing  ill  the  Chiivcli      And, 

IV.  Who   Succeed    in  them,   and  righcl) 
Execute  them  to  this  Day. 


Recommended  m  popr  to  be  futinto  the  Hands  of  the  Laity 


BOSTON: 

Re- printed  by  Tho.  Fltet,  and  are  to  be  Sold 
by  Benjamin  Eliot  in  Roflon,  Daniel  Aurjult  in 
Newport,  Gabrii'l  Bernon  in  Frovidcnc-^  Mr 
Gallop  in  Brijlcl,  Mr.  yean  in  Stratfird,  and 
in  moft  other  Towns  within  the  Colonics  ot 
Connecliciit    and   Rhode-Jfland.    iji'l  


L 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 7  ^ 

social  centre,  and  before  many  months  had  passed 
it  was  no  secret  that  here  strange  doctrines  as  to  the 
apostoHc  and  divine  origin  of  the  episcopate  were 
boldly  and  eloquently  set  forth  by  the  proprietor.  In 
1 7 19,  the  enterprising  bookseller  offered  to  the  Bos- 
ton public  two  pamphlets  supporting  his  views.  The 
Massachusetts  authorities  considered  it  time  to  act, 
and  called  on  Checkley  to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance 
and  abjuration,  since  he  rested  under  suspicion  of 
disaffection  to  His  Majesty's  Government.  Checkley 
indignantly  refused.  The  matter  came  before  the 
court,  and  he  was  forced  to  pay  a  fine  of  six  pounds, 
and  to  find  sureties  for  his  good  behavior  until  such 
time  as  he  should  be  ready  to  take  the  required  oaths. 
This  was  not  until  1724.  In  the  mean  time  Checkley 
had  visited  England,  and  it  is  believed  that  he  offered 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  Holy  Orders.  If  so,  his 
attitude  in  the  matter  of  taking  the  oaths  would,  of 
course,  have  led  to  his  unqualified  rejection. 

Nor  had  the  godly  and  orthodox  divines  of  Boston 
been  idle.  A  hailstorm  of  confuting  pamphlets  ap- 
peared in  answer  to  Checkley's  attack,  and  these 
were,  in  due  course,  met  by  rejoinders,  and  reissues 
of  the  irritating  cause  of  the  disturbance.  In  one 
form  or  another  the  contest  was  waged  without  inter- 
mission during  the  next  fourteen  years,  for  it  was  not 
until  1738  that  Checkley,  after  repeated  rejection, 
was  finally  admitted  to  orders  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. A  man  of  fifty-eight,  he  took  up  with  enthusi- 


1 7  2  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

asm  a  new  career  and  a  future  whose  promises  were 
far  from  brilliant.  He  was  immediately  appointed 
missionary  at  Providence,  on  a  salary  of  sixty  pounds 
a  year.  For  many  reasons  the  appointment  was 
eminently  satisfactory.  He  would  thus  be  within 
reach  of  his  old  home  and  his  old  friends  at  Boston, 
while  in  Mr.  Honeyman,  of  Newport,  and  Doctor 
MacSparran,  of  Narragansett,  he  would  have  con- 
genial fellow-workers  as  well  as  old  and  tried  friends. 
His  new  parishioners  received  him  with  *'most 
unfeigned  thanks,"  and  he  was  soon  deeply  engaged 
in  his  work,  far  beyond  the  official  limits  of  his  task. 
He  preached  at  Attleborough,  at  Warwick,  and 
sometimes  at  Taunton.  He  worked  enthusiastically 
and  successfully  among  the  Indians,  and  he  acted, 
at  different  times,  as  tutor.  His  private  library  was 
much  more  extensive  than  that  of  the  ordinary  New- 
England  minister,  numbering  nearly  one  thousand 
volumes ;  among  these  were  many  folios  and  quartos 
in  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew,  French,  and  other  lan- 
guages. His  letters  to  the  Venerable  Society  tell  us  of 
his  work  and  the  conditions  under  which  he  labored. 
In  the  first  year  of  his  ministry  he  baptized  twenty- 
six  persons,  "  visited  almost  all  the  Indians  remaining 
in  this  part  of  the  Country  .  .  .  and  Built  a  Barn 
and  Stable  upon  the  Glebe,"  and  this  by  borrowing 
money  at  twelve  per  cent.  He  laments  the  unavoid- 
able outlay,  as  otherwise  he  "would  lay  out  some 
Mony  in  England  for  Books  against  Atheism  and 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 7  3 

Infidelity :  That  Poison  being  widely  diffused  through 
this  Country/'  He  adds  that  the  house  and  glebe  are 
*'not  yet  wholly  paid  for,  nor  all  the  windows  of  the 
Church  quite  mended  that  were  broken  by  the  dread- 
ful Storm  of  Hail  the  last  year." 

This  account  of  the  somewhat  forlorn  conditions 
obtaining  in  his  new  field  of  work  was  written  in  the 
early  November  of  1740.  It  was  not  until  two  years 
later  that  the  damage  done  by  the  "Storm  of  Hail" 
was  completely  repaired,  and  then  under  the  influence 
of  the  religious  zeal  of  a  stranger.  In  the  fall  of  1742, 
Mr.  Checkley  judged  it  advisable  to  explain  his  atti- 
tude "respecting  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent."  He  afiirms 
that  "  The  Town  of  Providence  was  in  an  Uproar 
.  .  .  running  after  Mr.  Tennent,  who  prayed  and 
then  discoursed  to  the  people,  morning,  noon  and 
night."  It  was  evident  to  Checkley  that  if  he  adopted 
a  policy  of  silent  contempt,  he  would  probably  lose  a 
large  proportion  of  his  small  congregation.  He  there- 
fore wisely  took  the  bull  by  the  horns,  and  "pub- 
lickly  invited  Mr.  Tennent  and  his  numerous  Fol- 
lowers to  come  to  Church  .  .  .  where  I  would  per- 
form Divine  Service  and  preach  a  Sermon.  They  did 
accordingly  come,  a  very  numerous  Assembly  .  .  . 
from  whom,  after  Divine  Service,  I  had  a  Collection 
of  Mony  which  effectually  mended  our  Church  win- 
dows broken  by  the  Hail,  which  we  were  not  able 
to  mend." 

We  may  easily  imagine  the  humorous  twinkle  of 


174  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  eye  with  which  the  good  rector  pocketed  this  spoil 
from  the  Egyptians.  A  bit  of  natural  curiosity  was 
his  also.  He  proceeds  to  say  that  Mr.  Tennent  an- 
nounced his  intention  to  preach  in  King's  Church  in 
the  afternoon.  "I  did  not  contradict  it.  For,  the 
truth  is,  I  had  a  great  Desire  to  see  what  they  would 
be  at;  that  I  might  be  the  better  able  to  oppose 
them,"  —  an  argument  of  justification  by  no  means 
new,  even  in  that  day.  He  then  describes  the  after- 
noon service,  and  concludes  by  saying  that  he  had  "a 
great  Deal  of  private  conversation"  with  Mr.  Ten- 
nent, which  he  hopes  "did  him  [Tennent]  good." 
With  the  Evangelical  revivalists,  as  such,  Mr. 
Checkley  had  little  sympathy.  He  says,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  account  of  Tennent's  visit  to  Provi- 
dence, "no  Minister  in  the  Country  hath  opposed 
their  mad  proceedings  more  than  I  have  done,"  and 
his  description  of  the  New  Lights  and  their  extrava- 
gances, in  1 751,  is  that  of  a  typical  Church  of  Eng- 
land rector. 

Checkley  was  none  the  less  an  eager  laborer  in  the 
vineyard.  He  frequently  preached  at  Taunton, 
twenty  miles  distant  from  his  home,  and  at  times 
went  fifty  miles,  through  snew  and  flood,  to  admin- 
ister the  sacraments.  And  this  in  the  extraordinarily 
severe  winter  of  1740  and  1741,  when  Narragansett 
Bay  was  frozen  solid,  so  that  people  drove  from  New- 
port to  Providence,  while  the  snow  lay  on  the  ground 
so  late  into  the  spring  that  hundreds  of  sheep  starved. 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 7  5 

and  the  fruit  trees  did  not  blossom  until  the  middle  of 
June. 

That  his  work  was  arduous  we  know,  and  that  the 
results  were  not  always  encouraging  we  may  infer 
from  his  report  for  a  half-year's  labor  respecting  the 
''Converts  from  a  profane  disorderly  and  Unchris- 
tian course  of  life,  to  a  life  of  Christian  purity  meek- 
ness and  Charity."  The  number  of  the  reclaimed 
was  two.  In  1742,  a  parochial  Library  was  sent  him 
by  the  Society,  for  which  "most  hearty  Thanks" 
were  rendered.  Five  years  later  he  asks  for  "some 
Common  Prayer  Books  with  Brady  &  Tate's  Psalms, 
...  &  some  Silver-covered  Primers  for  the  Chil- 
dren, whose  Parents  are  highly  pleased  by  the 
distribution  of  such /w^  books." 

In  1 75 1  he  writes  in  some  perturbation  of  spirit: 
"No  man  can  think  (who  is  an  utter  stranger  to 
them)  what  strange  objections  the  People  raise 
against  the  Sacraments ;  I  mean  such  People  as  have 
been  dragged  up  in  Schism,  or  rather  many  of  them, 
in  no  religion :  the  former  (if  possible)  being  Worse 
than  the  Latter.  .  .  .  The  Infidels  &  the  New- 
Lights  rage  most  furiously  against  the  Ordinances  of 
Christ  being  necessary  to  Salvation.  The  Enthusias- 
tic New-Lights  affirming  nothing  necessary  but  what 
they  wildly  call  Conversion.  That  is  screaming  and 
tumbling  about  on  the  Floor,  young  Men  &  Women 
ten  or  12  promiscuously  on  the  Floor  at  once  .  .  . 
always  screaming,  and  sometimes  in  a  most  hideous 


176   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

manner,  calling  upon  People  to  come  to  Christ,  come 
to  Christ,  come  to  Christ.  At  the  same  Time  declaring 
to  the  people  that  the  Sacraments  will  not  carry  them 
to  Christ,  but  only  their  being  converted  as  they  have 
been.  After  these  distracted  Frolicks,  and  many 
other,  more  like  Demoniacs  than  any  Thing  else, 
they  pretend  to  great  Joy,  and  Serenity  of  Mind, 
and  are  then  (according  to  their  Scheme)  .  .  .  en- 
tirely converted,  and  are  infallibly  sure  of  Salvation.'* 

John  Checkley  died  in  harness  in  1754.  A  daugh- 
ter survived  him.  She  had  married  Henry  Paget  of 
Providence,  an  Irishman  and  an  active  member  of 
King's  Church,  whom  the  good  rector  had  tested  in 
things  temporal  as  well  as  things  spiritual.  Paget's 
farm,  just  five  miles  north  of  King's  Church,  in  the 
town  of  Smithfield,  was  the  joint  purchase  of  himself 
and  his  father-in-law.  The  spacious  hip-roofed  house 
is  still  standing.  Shortly  before  Paget's  death,  in 
1772,  this  landed  estate  became  the  property  of  the 
Arnold  family. 

At  some  time  subsequent  to  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Checkley's  daughter  the  home  centre  seems  to  have 
alternated  between  the  Parsonage  and  the  Towne 
Street.  At  the  corner  of  the  present  South  Main  and 
College  Streets  (approximately)  was  a  lot  of  land, 
originally  belonging  to  the  home  lot  of  Chad  Brown. 
It  was  sold  by  Chad  Brown's  descendants,  and  in 
1746  it  was  owned  by  John  Checkley,  who  not  im- 
probably paid  many  a  pleasant  visit  to  the  house  put 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 7  7 

up  there  by  his  son-in-law,  Henry  Paget.  Paget's 
next-door  neighbor  on  the  south  was  the  widow  of 
James  Brown  and  the  mother  of  the  "Four  Bro- 
thers," "John  and  Jo,  Nick  and  Mo,"  who  were,  at 
the  time  of  which  we  write,  busily  employed  in  mas- 
tering the  three  "R's."  Across  the  street  Mr.  Check- 
ley  found  congenial  society  in  the  person  of  Samuel 
Chace,  a  good  Episcopalian,  while  on  the  other  side 
of  the  lane  which  led  up  the  hill  (the  predecessor  of 
College  Street),  he  had  within  reach  sufficient  variety 
of  opinion  to  give  a  spice  to  the  life  of  any  man. 
On  the  corner  of  Presbyterian  Lane  and  the  Towne 
Street  was  Ephraim  Bowen,  a  stanch  Presbyterian, 
and  adjoining  Brother  Bowen  was  the  house  of 
Daniel  Jenckes,  a  very  strong  Baptist. 

We  must  not,  however,  think  of  Mr.  Checkley  and 
the  Pagets  as  dependent  on  the  immediate  neighbors 
for  society.  The  man  whose  visits  to  the  outlying 
heathen  were  only  limited  by  his  horse's  powers  of 
endurance,  would  surely  often  jog  across  Great 
Bridge  to  enjoy  a  chat  with  his  friend  Doctor  Henry 
Sweeting,  whose  homestead,  on  the  site  now  occupied 
by  the  firm  of  Barker  &  Chadsey,  was  the  first  house 
to  be  built  on  Weybosset  Point.  The  Sweeting  con- 
nection formed  quite  a  colony.  The  Doctor's  son  and 
his  two  married  daughters  were  presently  established 
in  homes  close  by  the  parent  rooftree.  Until  within 
a  few  years,  Dunwell's  Gangway,  now  buried  under 
the  Banigan  Building,  perpetuated  the  memory  of 
his  son-in-law,  John  Dunwell. 


1 7  8   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Another  congenial  friend  of  the  rector,  and  stanch 
supporter  of  King's  Church,  was  John  Merritt,  an 
EngHshman  of  ample  means  and  scholarly  tastes, 
who  came  to  Providence,  probably  from  Newport,  in 
or  near  1746.  Mr.  Merritt  was  possessed  of  many  of 
the  attributes  of  the  "fine  old  English  gentleman." 
He  was  prosperous,  liberal,  and  kindly,  a  man  of 
culture  and  experience,  and  yet  withal  a  bit  auto- 
cratic and  hot-headed.  His  two-hundred-acre  estate 
lay  to  the  east  of  the  present  Arlington  Avenue,  and 
extended  to  the  banks  of  the  Seekonk.  To  a  later 
generation  it  was  well  known  as  the  "Moses  Brown 
Farm."  His  land  was  well-farmed,  having  two  barns, 
a  large  coach-house,  a  sheep-house,  granary,  gar- 
dens, and  orchards.  His  negro  servants  were  care- 
fully housed.  His  business  interests  were  not  con- 
fined to  Providence.  He  was  concerned  in  an  iron 
forge  at  Uxbridge,  in  Massachusetts,  and  there  are 
still  on  file  among  the  papers  of  Nicholas  Brown  and 
Company  letters  from  Mr.  Merritt  dealing  with  or- 
ders and  commissions  to  Boston  and  elsewhere. 

He  brought  to  Providence  the  first  and  for  a  long 
time  the  only  coach  in  the  town.  We  may  imagine 
this  ponderous  equipage,  with  two  (it  may  be  four) 
well-groomed  horses,  and  liveried  coachman,  wend- 
ing its  stately  way  through  Arlington  Avenue  —  then 
the  Pawtucket  Road  —  to  Gaol  Lane  (now  Meeting 
Street),  which  then  ran  some  distance  east  of  Hope 
Street  —  "  the  Highway."  Gaol  Lane  was  not,  how- 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     179 

ever,  in  any  condition  to  serve  as  a  carriage-road, 
and  we  may  be  sure  the  careful  driver  drew  a  breath 
of  relief  when  they  reached  Olney's  Lane,  and  his 
master's  progress  to  the  Towne  Street  was  at  last 
unimpeded  by  gates  and  bars.  Once  started  on  his 
travels  in  this  imposing  vehicle,  Mr.  Merritt  must 
perforce  have  gone  to  the  Parade  (Market  Square), 
for  nowhere  short  of  that  point  could  the  most  experi- 
enced of  "stagers"  have  found  space  to  turn  in  the 
narrow  highways  of  Providence.  It  was  an  eventful 
day  for  the  good  people  of  the  town  when  Mr.  Mer- 
ritt called  on  Mr.  Checkley  and  his  lady,  or  on  his 
successor,  Mr.  Graves.  Not  improbably  the  congre- 
gation at  King's  Church  gained  in  numbers  and 
general  esteem  after  the  appearance  at  the  church 
door  of  his  coach  in  all  its  splendor. 

John  Merritt  was  a  liberal  contributor  to  the 
church  with  which  he  identified  himself.  When  he 
died,  in  1770,  "leaving  the  Integrity  of  his  Heart  and 
many  exemplary  Qualifications  of  his  Life  to  be  cele- 
brated by  others,"  it  was  found  that  he  had  left  to 
"the  Episcopal  Church  for  its  repair  as  to  the  mem- 
bers for  the  time  being  may  seem  best,  ;^ioo,"  and 
also  a  lot  of  land  adjoining  the  church  property.  To 
the  rector  he  bequeathed  "^^30,  and  £^0  worth  of 
Books  which  he  may  chuse  out  of  my  Library  ac- 
cording to  the  value  in  the  Catalogue,  with  Rings  to 
him  and  his  Lady."  The  library  was  a  really  amaz- 
ing collection  of  books  in  the  Providence  of  that  day, 


1 8  o   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

for  a  man  who  was  not  a  theologian.  There  were 
many  volumes  of  English  poetry  and  essays,  some 
classics,  Caesar,  Horace,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  the 
plays  of  Sophocles,  works  on  agriculture,  dictionaries 
and  gazetteers,  and  a  creditable  array  of  volumes 
dealing  with  theology.  It  is  certain  that,  with  the 
exception  of  John  Checkley,  no  man  in  town  had  a 
library  approaching  that  of  Mr.  Merritt,  either  in  the 
number  of  books,  or  their  quality. 

A  perusal  of  the  inventory  of  Mr.  Checkley's  per- 
sonal effects  will  throw  light  on  his  tastes  and  pur- 
suits. We  find  a  "  Silver  Snuff  box  with  gilt  crucifix 
&c.,"  and  this — it  is  interesting  to  know —  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  his  descendants.  There  were  also 
a  microscope  and  a  telescope,  ninety-two  ''pieces  of 
paint,  Grate  &  Small,"  and  "  One  Gold  Ring,"  set 
with  diamonds.  The  personal  property  came  to 
;^2530.  5.  o,  and  there  was  real  estate  to  the  amount 
of;^iioi.  18.9.  Mr.  Checkley  was  buried  in  the  yard 
between  King's  Church  and  the  street.  When  the 
new  church  —  the  present  St.  John's  —  was  built  in 
1 810,  all  the  graves  and  gravestones  in  front  of  the 
church  disappeared.  Their  disposition  is  not  known. 
Many  of  the  old  gravestones  were  destroyed  or 
carted  away. 

When,  in  1722,  Gabriel  Bernon  wrote  to  Mr. 
Honeyman  concerning  the  future  prospects  of  that 
church  in  which  they  both  took  so  keen  an  interest, 
he  mentioned,  as  *'the  three  chief  men  of  the  town," 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 8 1 

Colonel  Whipple,  "Mr.  Jink,  our  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor," and  "Judge  Waterman,  a  man  of  very  good 
parts,"  and  if  we  exclude  the  name  of  Gabriel  Ber- 
non  himself,  the  characterization  may  serve  for  the 
moment. 

"Mr.  Jink"  is  certainly  entitled  to  the  distinction 
accorded  him.  Joseph  Jenckes  was  an  interesting 
personage.  His  father  —  also  Joseph  —  "planted 
Pawtucket,"  where  he  set  up  a  forge  and  a  saw-mill, 
and  became  a  person  of  considerable  wealth  and 
importance.  Joseph  the  younger  distinguished  him- 
self in  King  Philip's  War.  Eventually  he  became  the 
commander  of  the  militia  on  the  mainland,  with  the 
title  of  "Major  for  the  Main."  He  is  portrayed  for 
us  as  "of  a  large  stature  (seven  feet  and  two  inches  in 
height),  and  well-proportioned"  with  a  "most  grave 
and  commanding  countenance."  In  1722  he  had  just 
returned  from  a  journey  to  England,  whither  he  was 
sent  by  the  Rhode-Islanders  to  state  the  case  for  the 
colony  in  the  matter  of  a  disputed  land  claim  with 
Connecticut.  The  boundaries  of  Rhode  Island  col- 
ony were  in  a  state  of  chronic  readjustment  until  a 
much  later  period  than  this. 

Jenckes's  eloquence  and  power  of  argument  were 
matters  of  more  than  local  celebrity.  He  was  fore- 
most among  the  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and 
Bernon  especially  mentions  him  as  an  illustrative 
instance  of  "many  worthy  gentlemen  that  make  their 
application  to  read  the  Holy  scriptures  and  are  very 


1 8  2   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

well  able  to  give  an  account  of  their  faith."  These 
talents  found  full  scope  for  action  a  few  years  later, 
when  the  innovating  doctrines  set  forth  by  a  new- 
comer among  the  Baptist  brethren  in  Providence 
caused  prolonged  search  for  scriptural  warrant,  and 
eloquent  exposition  founded  on  the  results  thereof, 
for  and  against  such  weighty  matters  as  "  the  laying 
on  of  hands,"  the  use  of  music  in  church  service,  and 
the  payment  of  a  salary  to  the  officiating  elder,  or  min- 
ister, of  the  congregation.  Joseph  Jenckes's  letters 
may  still  be  read,  and  they  are  well  worth  the  perusal 
for  the  sake  of  the  pen-and-ink  portrait  they  present 
of  the  clear-headed,  tolerant,  and  generous  writer. 

During  the  greater  part  of  his  long  and  active  life 
Jenckes  was  employed  in  the  colony's  political  serv- 
ice. In  1 69 1,  he  was  chosen  deputy,  and  in  1708, 
assistant.  At  various  times  from  17 15  to  1727  he  held 
the  office  of  deputy  governor,  and  that  of  governor 
from  1727  to  1732.  We  are  told  that  he  was  ''solic- 
ited to  serve  the  colony  longer  as  their  Governor,  but 
with  heartfelt  appreciation  he  told  them  that  he  felt 
his  natural  faculties  abating,  and  that  if  he  should 
hold  office  a  few  years  longer  he  might  not  be  sensible 
of  their  decay,  and  perhaps  should  not  be  willing  to 
resign." 

Governor  Jenckes  was  the  first  governor  of  the 
colony  who  was  not  an  inhabitant  of  Newport.  It 
well  illustrates  the  comparative  importance  of  New- 
port and  Providence  that  in  the  first  session  after  his 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     1 8  3 

election  the  Assembly  resolved,  that  it  was  '*  highly 
necessary  for  the  Governor  of  this  colony  to  live  at 
Newport";  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  removal 
thither  from  Pawtucket  would  be  "  very  chargeable," 
an  appropriation  of  one  hundred  pounds  from  the 
colony  treasury  was  set  apart  "to  defray  the  charges 
of  removing  his  family  to  Newport."  He  lived  to  the 
ripe  age  of  eighty-four  years.  On  his  tomb  in  the 
North  Burial  Ground  he  is  described  as  "a  zealous 
Christian,  a  Wise  and  Prudent  Governor,  a  Kind 
Husband  and  a  Tender  Father,  a  good  Neighbor, 
and  a  Faithful  Friend,  Grave,  Sober,  Pleasant  in 
Behavior,  Beautiful  in  Person,  with  a  soul  truly 
Great,  Heroic  and  Sweetly  Tempered." 

The  estimable  "Mr.  Jinks"  was,  however,  but  one 
in  the  list  of  "learned  men"  whom  Gabriel  Bernon 
enumerates  in  his  letter,  in  order  duly  to  impress 
on  the  mind  of  his  correspondent  the  necessity  for 
sending  to  the  parish  at  Providence  a  "learned  .  .  . 
minister  of  good  erudition,"  by  preference  "an  Old 
England  gentleman  minister."  His  list  includes, 
among  others,  Jonathan  Sprague,  a  man  of  some 
prominence  in  the  political  life  of  the  colony,  but 
better  known  as  a  Baptist  preacher,  or  exhorter.  In 
that  capacity  he  addressed  an  extremely  forcible 
epistle  to  three  Congregational  divines  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony,  who,  in  172 1,  presumed  to  suggest  to 
Sprague  and  others  the  advisability  of  establishing  a 
Congregational  church  in  Providence. 


184  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Another  name  is  that  of  Samuel  Winsor,  the  grand- 
son of  Roger  Williams,  whose  career  as  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  church  has  been  already  noted.  *'Mr. 
Outram,  mathematician,"  has  been  identified  by  Mr. 
Henry  R.  Chace  with  William  Antrim,  whose  name, 
writes  Mr.  Chace,  "was  spelled  by  the  people  of 
Providence,  in  both  the  first  and  second  syllables,  in 
all  the  ways  possible  by  use  of  the  various  vowels." 
He  and  his  wife  Sarah  (she  that  was  a  Fenner)  were 
long  involved  in  a  contest  with  Mrs.  Antrim's  bro- 
thers over  the  settlement  of  her  father's  estate.  From 
this  wordy  war  the  Antrims  finally  emerged  with  a 
suflficient  supply  of  ready  money  to  enable  them  to 
buy  a  warehouse  lot  on  the  corner  of  what  is  now 
North  Main  and  Smith  Streets,  and  here  Antrim 
built  a  distillery,  carried  on  a  thriving  business,  laid 
up  money,  invested  in  real  estate,  and  prospered, 
until  his  death,  in  1 754.  Antrim  was  a  near  neighbor 
of  Gabriel  Bernon,  and  a  congenial  member  of  that 
interesting  group  of  newcomers  who  enliven  the  an- 
nals of  Providence  in  the  early  eighteenth  century. 

To  the  north  of  Bernon  and  Antrim  lived  Jonathan 
Sprague  and  Captain  John  Crawford.  Across  the 
way  was  "Nathaniel  Brown  of  Kittle  Point,"  who 
appears  to  have  made  Providence  his  home  at  a 
somewhat  later  date  than  his  neighbors  just  men- 
tioned. In  1 7 13,  he  bought  the  home  lot  which  had 
originally  belonged  to  Richard  Scott.  He  was  living 
at  Rehoboth  in  1725,  when,  although  a  warden  of 


Letter  from  Rev.  James  McSparran  to  Gabriel 
Bernon,  July  2,  1721 

From  original  document  in  Bernon  Papers,  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 


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A  Group  of  Newcomers     185 

King's  Church,  he  was  imprisoned  at  Bristol  (then  in 
Massachusetts)  "for  refusing  to  pay  towards  the 
Support  of  the  Dissenting  teacher  in  that  Town/' 
since  his  conscience  forbade  him  "to  contribute  to- 
wards the  Supporting  Schism."  At  some  time  be- 
tween the  date  of  that  untoward  event  and  the  time 
of  his  marriage  with  Mary,  the  widow  of  Gabriel 
Bernon,  in  1737,  we  may  take  for  granted  that  he 
became  a  resident  of  Providence.  His  daughter  mar- 
ried Doctor  Henry  Sweeting,  already  referred  to  as 
of  the  elect  who  were  ministered  to  by  the  excellent 
and  reverend  John  Checkley. 

When  Nathaniel  Brown  died,  in  1738,  he  divided 
his  large  landed  estate.  His  grandson.  Job  Sweet- 
ing, received  land  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great  Salt 
River.  To  his  son  Nathaniel  —  who  was,  by  the 
way,  a  far  from  promising  branch  of  the  parent 
tree  —  were  given  the  two  lots  on  the  Towne  Street. 
The  greater  part  of  the  property  lay  without  the 
bounds  of  the  Rhode  Island  of  that  day,  across  the 
Seekonk,  where  now  the  unsightly  town  of  East  Pro- 
vidence perpetuates  the  old  shipbuilder's  Watch- 
emoket  Farm  in  its  wind-swept  Watchemoket  Square. 
These  goodly  acres  of  farming-land  were  bequeathed 
to  his  son  John. 

Nathaniel  Brown's  neighbor  and  fellow-church- 
man, Gabriel  Bernon,  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-two  years.  He  was  buried  beneath  King's 
Church,  and  on  the  walls  of  the  present  building  — 


1 8  6   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

St.  John's — a  bronze  tablet  records  his  many  vir- 
tues. An  obituary  notice,  published  in  a  Boston 
paper  of  that  period,  speaks  of  him  as  follows:  "He 
was  courteous,  honest  and  kind,  and  died  in  great 
faith  and  hope  in  his  Redeemer,  and  assurance  of 
salvation;  and  has  left  a  good  name  among  his 
acquaintances.  ...  He  was  decently  buried  under 
the  Episcopal  church  at  Providence,  and  a  great 
concourse  of  people  attended  his  funeral,  to  whom 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown  preached  an  agreeable  and 
eloquent  sermon  from  Psalms  xxxix,  4."  The  man 
himself  is  elsewhere  described  as  of  "  commanding 
appearance  and  courtly  bearing.  Tall,  slender,  and 
erect,  he  joined  the  vivacity  of  his  race  with  the 
thoughtfulness  that  marked  the  men  of  his  creed. 
Genuine  kindliness  consisted  with  a  quick  temper, 
which  betrayed  itself  in  a  certain  imperiousness  of 
manner." 

His  house,  on  the  Towne  Street  of  Providence,  was 
built  on  the  model  of  those  of  his  boyhood's  home, 
with  a  bold  projecting  front.  It  was  of  wood,  two 
stories  on  the  street,  and  three  in  the  rear.  The  two 
daughters  of  his  marriage  with  Mary  Harris,  of 
Providence,  married,  in  their  turn,  Joseph  and  Gid- 
eon Crawford,  the  sons  of  Major  William.  These 
two  brothers  were  leading  citizens  and  prominent 
merchants  of  the  Providence  of  their  generation, 
where  they  lived,  honored  and  respected,  until  the 
closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


A  Group  of  Newcomers     187 

When  Gabriel  Bernon  died,  in  1736,  he  left  a  per- 
sonal estate  valued  at  £%<^^.  He  owned  four  negro 
slaves,  who  were  appraised  at  ;^500.  Among  his 
more  important  effects  were  forty-four  ounces  of 
plate,  and  two  pairs  of  large  gold  buttons,  a  tea-table, 
six  large  maps,  a  silver-hiked  sword,  and  a  silver- 
handled  cane. 


Chapter  VI 

PROGRESS,  ECCLESIASTICAL  AND  SECULAR 

THE  unsatisfactory  social  and  religious  con- 
ditions of  the  Providence  of  the  early  eight- 
eenth century  led  Gabriel  Bernon,  Na- 
thaniel Brown,  Colonel  Joseph  Whipple,  and  others, 
to  bestir  themselves  to  bring  about  a  change  for  the 
better.  We  have  watched  as  their  efforts  led  to  the 
establishment  of  King's  Church. 

At  practically  the  same  time  certain  other  good 
people,  living  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut, 
were  displaying  a  creditable  zeal  in  the  endeavor  to 
raise  an  Ebenezer  for  the  comfort  of  the  elect. 

It  was  in  1721  that  the  first  efforts  to  establish  the 
*' Congregational  or  Presbyterian  way"  of  worship 
were  set  on  foot  in  the  town  of  Providence.  In  the 
October  of  that  year  three  prominent  ministers  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony  endeavored  to  feel  the  pulse  of 
public  opinion  by  addressing  to  Captain  Nicholas 
Power  and  others  a  letter  on  the  subject.  These 
worthy  representatives  of  "the  standing  order" 
asked  to  be  informed  "whether  the  preaching  of  our 
ministers  in  Providence  might  not  be  acceptable ;  and 
whether  some  who  do  not  greatly  incline  to  frequent 
any  pious  meeting  in  the  place,  might  not  be  drawn 
to  .  .  .  hear  our  ministers,  and  so  might  be  won 


Vr ogres  5  189 

over  .  .  .  into  serious  godliness."  The  inducement 
thus  tactfully  set  forth  was  followed  by  a  suggestion 
that  "  if  .  .  .a  small  meeting  house  should  be  built 
in  your  town  to  entertain  such  as  are  willing  to  hear 
our  ministers,  we  should  account  it  a  great  favor,  if 
you  all  .  .  .  or  any  of  you,  would  please  to  build 
pews  therein." 

The  proposition  proved  to  be  far  from  acceptable 
to  the  men  for  whose  perusal  it  was  written.  One  of 
their  number  —  namely,  Elder  Jonathan  Sprague, 
whose  claims  to  intellectual  leadership  have  been 
already  touched  on  —  indited  a  reply  intended  to 
repress  this  budding  fervor  of  the  missionary  spirit, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  set  forth  in  uncompro- 
mising language  the  Baptist  point  of  view.  Nor  did 
the  eloquent  exhorter  fail  to  dwell  on  the  wrongs  and 
sufferings,  past  and  present,  of  those  ''dear  friends 
and  pious  dissenters,"  in  Attleborough,  Mendon,  and 
other  towns,  whose  persons  had  been  cast  into  prison 
and  their  estates  seized  to  maintain  "the  standing 
order."  "For  the  future,"  says  Sprague  grimly, 
"never  let  us  hear  of  your  pillaging  conscientious 
dissenters  to  maintain  your  own  ministers." 

This  exhortation  was  penned  in  February,  1722. 
In  the  following  June,  Gabriel  Bernon,  writing  to  the 
Reverend  James  Honeyman,  urges  the  Episcopalians 
to  prompt  action,  for  he  says,  the  "Ministers  and 
Presbytery  of  the  government  of  Boston  and  Con- 
necticut" are  "very  busy  to  promote  and  advance 


190   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

their  cause"  in  Providence.  The  active  agent  in  pro- 
moting this  same  cause  was  Doctor  John  Hoyle, 
described  in  contemporary  documents  as  a  "  Practi- 
tioner in  Physick."  He  appears  to  have  been  an  inn- 
keeper as  well,  while  his  transactions  in  real  estate 
were  by  no  means  inconsiderable.  Some  five  or  six 
years  before  this  time  he  had  applied  to  the  Town 
Council  of  Providence  for  license  to  keep  an  inn,  but 
for  some  unknown  reason  his  request  was  refused. 
Religious  bias  was  not  often  a  factor  in  Providence 
politics,  and  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  Hoyle's 
dissent  from  the  cardinal  points  of  the  Baptist  doc- 
trine would  determine  the  matter  at  issue. 

At  all  events,  he  was  well  known  and  trusted  by 
his  friends  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  by 
his  exertions  among  these  liberal-minded  people  £2\ 
was  collected  "  in  the  way  of  charity  and  bounty  for 
the  erecting  of  a  meeting-house  and  the  purchase  of 
a  piece  of  land  .  .  .  said  meeting  house  ...  to  be 
appointed  to  the  use  of  the  Godley  preachers  and 
ministers  and  assemblies  that  shall  peaceably  and 
orderly  worship  in  the  Congregational  or  Presby- 
terian way." 

Having  obtained  the  money,  Hoyle  bought  a  lot 
on  the  West  Side  of  the  Great  Salt  River,  at  about 
the  junction  of  the  present  Broad  and  Weybosset 
Streets.  The  West  Side  of  that  day  was  in  very 
nearly  the  same  condition  as  when  Roger  Williams 
named  the  town  of  Providence.  A  road  ran  from  the 


Tr  ogress  1 9  ^ 

Wading  Place  through  what  is  now  Exchange  Street, 
past  the  Turk's  Head  and  along  the  line  of  Weybos- 
set  Street.  This  was  the  Old  Country  Road.  It 
diverged  where  Broad  Street  now  begins,  and  led  to 
Pawtuxet  on  the  left,  and  to  Plainfield  on  the  right. 
Northwest  of  the  Country  Road  lay  Waterman's 
Salt  Marsh,  extending  from  Turk's  Head  to  the 
present  Eddy  Street.  It  was  perhaps  two  hundred 
feet  wide  at  the  eastern  end,  and  spread  out  to  some 
four  hundred  feet  at  the  western  extremity.  Beyond 
the  marsh  lay  the  Mathewson  Farm,  where  was  prob- 
ably the  only  dwelling-house  in  that  part  of  the  city 
when  Hoyle,  in  1722,  bought  one  acre  of  land  of 
Zachariah  Mathewson,  at  the  corner  where  the 
Pawtuxet  and  Plainfield  roads  diverged. 

The  selection  of  such  a  situation,  on  the  edge  of  the 
wilderness,  for  the  new  meeting-house  can  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  prospective  parishioners  were  absentees,  living 
in  Rehoboth  and  Johnston,  or  well  out  on  the  road 
to  Pawtuxet. 

A  building  was  begun,  but  long  ere  it  approached 
completion,  the  purchasers  decided  to  abandon  the 
lot  of  their  first  choice  in  favor  of  a  more  thickly 
settled  neighborhood,  and  the  structure  was  accord- 
ingly pulled  down.  We  are  told  that  Doctor  Hoyle 
felt  the  removal  very  bitterly.  Finally  a  compromise 
was  reached,  and  the  Doctor  made  over  to  the  infant 
society  in  return  for  the  twenty-four  pounds  which  he 


1 9  2   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

had  collected,  that  acre  of  land  on  which  he  had  be- 
gun the  unfinished  meeting-house.  The  unfortunate 
Hoyle  has  been  depicted  for  posterity  as  one  who 
unloaded  his  own  bad  bargain  on  the  little  church 
whose  cause  he  had  been  ostensibly  laboring  to  pro- 
mote. It  is  possible  that  scant  justice  has  been  done 
him.  His  acre  of  land,  at  the  junction  of  two  high- 
ways, may  well  have  seemed  worth  the  price.  When 
the  Society  finally  obtained  from  Daniel  Abbott  a 
rear  lot  on  the  side  hill  above  theTowne  Street  it  cost 
them  thirty  pounds.  Daniel  Abbott  was  the  son  of 
our  old  acquaintance  of  that  name  who  played  so 
prominent  a  part  as  town-clerk  in  the  years  imme- 
diately following  King  Philip's  War,  and  was  also 
owner  of  the  distil-house  by  the  Parade,  just  in  front 
of  the  Great  Bridge. 

In  1723,  Daniel  Abbott  and  his  wife  Mary  deeded 
to  the  Congregational  ministers  of  Medfield,  Bristol, 
and  Rehoboth,  and  to  the  eldest  deacon  in  each  of 
those  churches,  as  trustees,  a  portion  of  the  Chad 
Brown  home  lot  on  the  Towne  Street,  beginning 
"twelve  poles  eastward  from  the  said  Street  ...  for 
the  erecting  and  building  a  meeting  house." 

This  lot  was  part  of  that  whereon  now  stands  the 
Providence  County  Court-House,  at  the  corner  of 
Benefit  and  College  Streets.  The  purchase  money, 
thirty  pounds,  was  supplied  by  the  "Reverend  Na- 
thaniel Cotton  of  Massachusetts  Bay  of  his  own  free 
bounty  for  the  setting  up  the  worship  of  God  in  the 


First  Congregational  Meeting-house 

Corner  Benefit  and  College  Streets,  built  1723,  used  as 
the  Town  House  and  as  a  police  court  after  179S,  and  de- 
molished i860.  From  a  water-color  sketch  by  Edward  L. 
Peckham,  made  in  i860,  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society. 


aauoH-oMiTaaM  jahoitao3;iohoO  Teail 

8B  hazu  .^i^Jl  il'iud  ,8393ij8  g^alloO  biiB  Jft3n33  lainoO 
-sb  bn£  ,JQKI  lartfi  Jiuoo  o^iloq  b  8B  bn£  aeuoH  nwoT  aril 
J  biBwbS  yd  xl339>(2  ioIoj-13Jbv/  b  mo-vl  .oc)8i  barfailora 
iBonoJglH  bnslal  oborl^  sHj  (li  ,oc)8l  iii  obmn  ,mKr[;J::)3*I 


'■^ '  \ 


Vrogress  1 9  3 

Presbyterian  or  Congregational  way  in  the  town  of 
Providence."  The  next  step  in  order  was  "the  erect- 
ing and  building  a  meeting  house."  Progress  was 
slow.  In  April  of  the  next  year  (1724),  the  watchful 
Bernon  reported  that  the  "busy  and  urgent  Pres- 
byterian ministers  get  but  little  ground."  In  1725 
occurred  another  illustration  of  the  missionary  spirit 
abroad  in  Massachusetts,  which  was  stimulating  the 
good  people  of  Providence  in  a  most  practical  way 
by  providing  the  necessary  motive  power  to  turn  the 
wheels  of  their  new  religious  organization.  Another 
representative  of  the  Cotton  family  came  forward  — 
the  Reverend  Thomas,  of  London — who  gave  ";{^5o. 
towards  the  settlement  of  religion  in  the  town  of 
Providence,  Rhode  Island.  £^^0.  towards  finishing 
the  meeting  house  .  .  .  and  ;^20.  towards  the  sup- 
port of  preaching  there  for  the  next  four  years  to 
come."  Thus  encouraged,  the  little  band  of  wor- 
shippers prevailed  on  Samuel  Moody,  "a  worthy, 
plain  and  powerful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ"  to 
watch  over  their  spiritual  welfare. 

It  was  not  until  three  years  later,  however,  that 
the  first  pastor  was  settled  over  the  little  flock.  This 
was  Josiah  Cotton,  a  brother  of  one  of  the  trustees. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  of  the  class  of  1722, 
and  passed  from  the  vocation  of  theological  student 
to  that  of  pedagogue,  as  did  most  aspirants  to  the 
ministry  of  that  day  and  generation.  Josiah  Cotton 
taught  school  at  Rehoboth  for  a  salary  of  ;^45.  per 


1 94   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

annum.  The  Congregational  church  at  Providence 
was  his  first  parish,  and  there  his  ordination  was 
impressively  celebrated,  on  October  23,  1728.  The 
service  was  followed  by  "a  very  Sumptuous  Dinner" 
at  the  house  of  Captain  Daniel  Abbott.  There  were 
enrolled  nine  male  members  of  the  church,  besides 
the  young  minister  himself. 

The  Providence  public  was  quick  to  recognize  the 
presence  of  this  outpouring  of  the  spirit.  The  thor- 
oughfare now  known  as  College  Street  first  came  into 
existence  in  1720,  under  the  name  of  Rosemary 
Lane.  When,  however,  the  atmosphere  became 
charged  with  theology,  this  dainty  cognomen  was 
discarded  in  favor  of  the  more  distinctive  Presby- 
terian Lane,  and  a  strait  and  narrow  path  to  sal- 
vation it  must  have  proved,  its  recorded  width  being 
but  twenty  feet. 

During  the  next  fifteen  years  the  little  group  of 
worshippers  in  the  ''Congregational  or  Presbyterian 
way"  enjoyed  spiritual  peace  and  prosperity.  In 
1742,  however,  their  harmony  of  fellowship  was 
rudely  broken.  In  that  year  the  outburst  of  religious 
excitement  first  set  in  motion  at  Northampton,  and 
stimulated  by  the  preaching  of  Tennent  and  White- 
field  until  it  swept  over  New  England,  began  to 
awaken  fervor  and  enthusiasm  in  towns  where  torpor 
and  indifference  had  long  prevailed.  The  extrava- 
gant demonstrations  of  the  "New  Lights"  a  few 
years  later  have  been  already  described  for  us  by  the 


Tr ogress  195 

Reverend  John  Checkley.  Josiah  Cotton's  parish 
was  shaken  to  its  foundations  by  this  newly  awak- 
ened zeal.  A  large  part,  if  not  a  majority,  of  the 
members  of  his  flock  accused  their  devoted  pastor  of 
unsound  theology,  of  preaching  a  doctrine  of  "dam- 
nable good  works." 

The  poor  man's  cup  was  indeed  full,  as  we  learn 
from  his  pious  if  somewhat  narrow-minded  brother- 
minister,  the  Reverend  Eleazer  Wheelock,  who 
visited  Providence  in  the  fall  of  1741,  on  his  way 
to  Boston.  His  diary  has  preserved  for  us  his  im- 
pressions and  comments.  On  reaching  Scituate  he 
visited  "Capt.  Angill"  [an  ancestor  of  President 
James  B.  Angell,  of  the  University  of  Michigan]  and 
preached  there.  He  then  paid  a  visit  to  one  "  Elder 
Fish  in  hope  to  find  him  a  Servant  of  Christ;  but 
found  him  a  bigoted  ignorant  Baptist  who  seemed  to 
know  nothing  as  he  ought  to  know."  After  thus 
unconsciously  bearing  testimony  as  to  his  own  quali- 
fications as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  charity,  the 
good  Wheelock  set  forth  for  Providence.  Two  miles 
from  town  he  was  met  by  Ebenezer  Knight,  a  thriv- 
ing shopkeeper  of  the  West  Side,  whose  pretensions 
to  gentility  cannot  be  doubted,  since  Mr.  Wheelock 
explicitly  states  that  he  "rode  with  Mr.  Knight  into 
Town  in  his  Calashe.  Preached  3  Sermons,"  he 
continues,  and  exclaims  with  reason,  "O  what  a 
burden  dear  Mr.  Cotton  has  daily  to  bear."  After 
two  days  of  preaching,  conference,  and  exhortation. 


196  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

somewhat  disturbed  by  the  "many  scoffers,"  the 
visitor  departed,  accompanied  so  far  as  "Swansey" 
by  his  friends  "  Mr.  Cotton  and  Madam,"  and  again 
privileged  to  occupy  a  ''calashe,"  —  that  of  Mr. 
Cotton. 

In  the  spring  of  1743,  the  discontented  faction 
formally  withdrew  from  the  church,  and,  in  the 
language  of  the  record,  ''they  set  up  a  separate 
meeting,  where  they  attended  to  the  exhortations  of 
a  lay  brother,  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  busi- 
ness of  house-carpentry."  This  interesting  personage 
was  Joseph  Snow,  Junior.  His  father,  a  blacksmith 
by  trade,  had  come  to  Providence  in  1730,  from 
Easton,  Massachusetts,  and  was  holding  the  office  of 
deacon  in  Mr.  Cotton's  church  at  the  time  of  the 
secession.  Deacon  Snow,  his  son,  and  his  son-in-law 
were  among  the  first  settlers  on  the  West  Side  of 
the  Great  River.  They  broke  ground  near  the  place 
where  the  Beneficent  Church  now  stands,  on  Wey- 
bosset  Street. 

The  West  Side  was  not  an  attractive  neighborhood 
in  those  early  days.  Little  change  had  taken  place  in 
the  twenty  years  since  Doctor  Hoyle's  abortive  at- 
tempt to  establish  a  religious  centre  in  this  neighbor- 
hood. Timothy  Carpenter  had  built  his  house  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  lot  on  which  the  old  post- 
office  stands,  and  near  by,  on  Weybosset  Point, 
Doctor  Henry  Sweeting  had  built  and  settled.  Dea- 
con Snow  obtained  some  land  in  the  neighborhood 


Progress  197 

where  "Mr.  Snow's  Meeting  House"  was  eventually 
to  stand,  through  the  good  offices  of  Captain  John 
Field,  whose  daughter  he  had  married.  A  year  or 
two  later  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land  of  about  four 
acres,  extending  from  the  house  of  Captain  John 
Field,  on  the  corner  of  the  present  Clifford  and 
Chestnut  Streets,  to  the  house  of  Zachariah  Mathew- 
son  at  the  corner  of  Eddy  and  Broad  Streets,  and 
lying  south  of  the  Country  Road.  Here  the  enter- 
prising deacon  built  a  house  for  himself  and  one  for 
his  son,  a  carpenter  by  trade.  These  they  soon  sold, 
laid  out  a  new  batch  of  house  lots,  built  and  sold 
again,  and  succeeded  in  creating  a  veritable  real- 
estate  boom. 

The  deacon  has  been  tersely  and  caustically  char- 
acterized as  a  "cantankerous  person  whose  specialty 
was  in  stirring  up  church  rows."  Once  in  Providence, 
he  appears  to  have  found  full  scope  for  his  peculiar 
talents,  and  in  due  course  his  activity  met  its  reward. 
Eventually  the  Seceders  formed  themselves  into  a 
new  church,  with  Joseph  Snow,  Junior,  as  pastor. 
The  first  requisite  was  a  meeting-house.  With  a 
wisdom  in  no  way  savoring  of  fanaticism  the  newly 
appointed  minister  induced  his  congregation  to  build 
their  meeting-house  on  the  West  Side  of  the  river, 
close  to  the  recently  settled  neighborhood  of  which 
his  own  and  his  father's  homes  formed  the  nucleus. 
A  lot  of  land  was  given  for  this  purpose  by  Daniel 
Abbott,  and  the  necessary  material  was  garnered 


198  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

under  the  directing  eye  of  the  pastor  himself,  who 
"  led  some  of  his  principal  members  into  the  woods 
and  there  cut  down  and  hewed  timber  for  that  pur- 
pose." The  open  space  on  the  east  of  the  new  build- 
ing was  long  and  appropriately  known  as  Abbott's 
Parade,  while  the  edifice  itself  was  variously  desig- 
nated as  ''theTennent  Meeting  House,"  the  "New 
Light  meeting  house,"  and  finally,  as  the  individu- 
ality of  its  minister  predominated  all  merely  extra- 
neous influences,  as  *'Mr,  Snow's  Meeting-House." 
Its  successor  of  to-day  is  styled  the  Beneficent 
Church,  from  the  title  of  the  Society,  adopted  in 
1785,  or  is  familiarly  spoken  of  as  the  *' Round-Top 
Church,"  because  of  its  dome. 

It  was  not  until  1750  that  the  building  was  ready 
for  service.  The  original  meeting-house  measured 
forty  feet  by  thirty-six.  It  was  several  times  enlarged, 
and  in  the  early  seventies  was  in  constant  demand 
for  public  gatherings,  as  having  the  largest  audience- 
room  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Snow  carried  into  the  ministry  the  activity 
which  had  distinguished  him  in  secular  pursuits.  He 
was  not  a  well-educated  man,  but  he  had  the  gift 
of  eloquence,  a  command  of  Bible  phraseology,  and 
a  voice  of  great  volume.  It  was  a  popular  saying 
that  the  Sabbath-breaking  ne'er-do-weels,  fishing  off 
Weybosset  Bridge,  could  easily  hear  and  profit  by 
Mr.  Snow's  exhortations  to  lead  a  better  life,  as  he 
preached  his  Sunday  sermon. 


Tr ogress  199 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Snow's  untiring  efforts  for 
the  regeneration  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  he  by  no 
means  lost  his  interest  in  temporal  concerns.  He 
improved  and  built  up  the  West  Side  of  the  town 
with  an  ardor  akin  to  that  wherewith  he  toiled  in  his 
Master's  vineyard.  In  1749,  he  and  two  other  long- 
headed business  men  purchased  of  the  widow  Ma- 
thewson  a  considerable  tract  of  land  lying  west  of 
the  present  Mathewson  Street,  and  north  of  Broad. 
The  next  move  was  to  open  a  highway  through  this 
land,  from  what  is  now  Cathedral  Square  to  Water- 
man's Marsh,  and  then  through  the  marsh  to  Turk's 
Head,  where  it  met  the  Plainfield  Road.  These 
enterprising  dealers  in  real  estate  laid  out  lots  and 
built  houses  along  their  new  road.  These  were  taken 
up  by  newcomers,  and  before  many  years  had  gone 
by  a  thriving  little  settlement  of  tradesmen  and  art- 
isans was  to  be  found,  and  a  notable  addition  was 
made,  in  due  course  of  time,  to  the  numbers  of  Mr. 
Snow's  congregation. 

While  the  new  church  thus  prospered  under  the 
combined  effects  of  the  religious  and  secular  enthusi- 
asm of  its  members,  the  parent  society  drooped  and 
pined.  Its  pastor  was  evidently  not  the  man  to  in- 
fuse new  vigor  into  the  lives  and  works  of  the  sav- 
ing remnant  of  his  congregation  which  was  left  him. 
After  a  few  years  of  conscientious  service  he  re- 
signed his  charge.  It  was  not  until  1751  that  the  load 
which  he  had  laid  down  was  finally  adjusted  to  an- 


2  00   'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

other  pair  of  shoulders.  In  that  year  the  Reverend 
John  Bass,  who  had  been  cast  without  the  pale  of 
Connecticut  Congregationalism,  became  the  leader 
of  this  struggling  little  flock.  Bass  was  a  graduate  of 
Harvard.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  had  been 
settled  as  minister  over  the  church  at  Ashford,  in 
Windham  County,  Connecticut.  While  yet  a  candi- 
date his  orthodoxy  fell  under  suspicion,  but  further 
inquiry  seemed  to  prove  his  principles  to  be  sound. 
Later,  his  sermons  were  criticised  as  being  insuffi- 
ciently Calvinistic.  His  church  went  so  far  as  to  ask 
that  the  matter  be  referred  to  a  conference.  To  this 
Bass  refused  his  consent,  saying  that  "as  the  people 
generally  were  in  a  ruffle,  't  was  best  to  defer  calling 
them  together  until  they  were  cooler,  .  .  .  and  so 
fitter  for  action." 

This  answer  did  not  tend  to  bring  about  the  desired 
consummation.  The  conference  was  summoned,  and 
Bass  was  accused  of  ''falling  away  from  the  saving 
doctrine  of  original  sin,  wherefore  neither  his  preach- 
ing nor  his  principles  were  good."  On  being  asked, 
"  Don't  you  think  that  a  child  brings  Sin  enough  into 
the  world  with  it  to  damn  it  forever.''"  Bass  replied, 
''He  did  not.''  The  matter  was  settled  then  and  there, 
for  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  was  promptly  pro- 
nounced "an  essential  condition  of  church  fellowship 
and  communion,"  and  further  discussion  and  eluci- 
dation failed  to  shake  the  convictions  of  either  party. 
Bass  removed  to  Providence,  —  the  inevitable  refuge 


Trogress  201 

of  the  theologically  unsound,  —  and  there  supplied 
the  pulpit  and  such  other  spiritual  offices  as  lay 
within  the  power  of  one  who  had  not  been  ordained, 
''till  about  the  year  1758,  when  by  reason  of  an  ill 
state  of  health,  and  the  small  encouragement  he  met 
with,  as  to  support  and  numbers  of  hearers,  he  gave 
up  the  business,  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of 
Physic."  The  encouragement  was  small,  indeed,  for 
we  read  that  his  congregations  did  not  often  exceed 
twenty,  and  that  the  church  was  "so  scattered  and 
divided,  that  it  was  scarcely  known  whether  there 
were  any  of  them  left." 

The  "practice  of  Physic"  was  not  the  only  field  of 
enterprise  which  engaged  Mr.  Bass's  attention.  It  is 
evident  at  a  glance  that  such  financial  support  as  he 
could  receive  from  the  faithful  few  to  whom  he  min- 
istered must  have  been  sadly  insufficient  to  furnish 
the  comforts  of  life.  It  was  a  necessity  for  the  new 
minister  to  obtain  a  supplementary  revenue  from 
some  source,  if  he  would  not  starve.  When,  therefore, 
in  1752,  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Providence,  the 
opportunity  offered  to  go  into  partnership  with 
Deacon  Snow  of  the  dissenting  party,  and  Samuel 
Nightingale,  a  pillar  of  the  Presbyterian  Society,  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  new  distillery,  built  by 
Nightingale,  Mr.  Bass  was  not  slow  to  invest  his 
funds  in  this  profitable  enterprise.  The  establish- 
ment was  known  as  the  *'  Concord  Distil-House  "  and 
stood  on  what  is  now  Page  Street,  about  one  hundred 


202   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

feet  south  of  the  Country  Road.  Both  Mr.  Bass  and 
his  partners  were  sufficiently  broad-minded  to  be 
able  to  overlook  differences  of  theological  opinion  on 
the  six  working-days  of  the  week,  and  to  content 
themselves  with  combating  error,  from  the  vantage- 
ground  of  pulpit  and  prayer-meeting,  on  the  seventh. 
Although  far  from  seeing  eye  to  eye  on  points  of 
doctrine,  we  may  assume  a  practical  harmony  re- 
garding their  spirituous  concerns. 

At  about  the  time  the  Concord  Distil-House  was 
built,  a  wide  ditch  was  constructed,  leading  from 
Muddy  Dock  —  where  Dorrance  Street  is  now  —  to 
the  distil-house.  By  means  of  this  improvement 
wood  and  barrels  were  transported  on  scows  to  and 
from  the  distillery  and  the  Towne  Street. 

Even  before  John  Bass  gave  up  the  cure  of  souls 
for  the  more  immediately  profitable  cure  of  bodies, 
he  seems  to  have  resided  on  the  West  Side  of  the 
river.  He  occupied  a  house  on  the  Plainfield  Road,  a 
little  east  of  Mr.  Snow's  Meeting-House,  and  com- 
paratively near  the  scene  of  his  own  financial  inter- 
ests. At  a  later  date  this  house  was  the  home  of 
Doctor  Samuel  Carew,  who  not  only  dispensed  pills 
and  practised  physic  at  his  sign  of  the  pestle  and 
mortar,  but  kept  a  tavern  known  as  "The  Travel- 
lers," and  ran  a  livery-stable  as  well. 

We  have  no  definite  information  respecting  Mr. 
Bass's  record  as  a  doctor  of  medicine.  His  obituary 
notice,  in  the  Gazette  of  1762,  speaks  of  "his  public 


Tr  ogress  203 

Performances"  as  ** evangelical,  learned,  rational  and 
accurate,"  while  in  private  life  he  was  said  to  be 
"sociable,  beneficent,  compassionate,  instructive, 
and  exemplary,"  —  a  list  of  Christian  virtues  to  be 
envied  in  any  age. 

Side  by  side  with  the  development  of  these  new 
religious  societies  whose  beginnings  have  been  traced, 
there  is  to  be  observed  an  expansion  in  the  field  of 
action  of  the  pioneers  in  the  spiritual  life  of  Rhode 
Island,  namely,  the  Baptists  and  the  Quakers.  The 
colony  of  Rhode  Island  had  since  the  days  of  George 
Fox  been  a  veritable  stronghold  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  here  as  elsewhere  their  habitual  thrift 
and  industry  soon  enabled  them  to  become  power- 
ful factors  in  the  political  and  industrial  life  of  the 
community  where  they  had  first  appeared  as  refugees. 

The  religious  enthusiasm  of  the  early  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  zeal  for  missionary  effort 
that  followed  it,  seem  to  have  aroused  the  placid 
Friends  to  fresh  exertions.  They,  too,  proceeded  to 
build  a  meeting-house  without  further  loss  of  time. 
Daniel  Abbott,  who  appears  to  have  been  particu- 
larly active  in  furthering  the  erection  of  ecclesiastical 
edifices,  offered  a  frame  for  the  building.  This  was 
inspected  and  approved,  and  the  quarterly  meeting 
of  June,  1725,  having  come  to  the  conclusion  "that 
it  is  most  likely  for  the  advancement  of  truth,  to  build 
a  meeting-house  in  the  town  of  Providence,"  agreed 
to  raise  one  hundred  pounds  for  that  purpose.  Mat- 


2  04  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

ters  progressed  smoothly  after  this,  and  before  1727 
the  Friends*  Meeting-House  occupied  its  present 
position  on  Meeting  Street,  then  known  as  Gaol 
Lane.  Its  erection  helped  to  rouse  the  still  small 
voice  of  conscience  throughout  the  neighborhood 
to  fresh  exertions.  The  Society  gained  steadily  in 
numbers  and  influence.  In  1753,  Doctor  MacSpar- 
ran,  writing  of  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  col- 
ony, speaks  of  the  Quakers  as,  "  for  the  most  part, 
the  people  in  power,"  and  the  uncompromising 
divine  unequivocally  classes  these  sectaries  among 
the  ''Briars,  and  Thorns,  and  noxious  weeds"  that 
were  "all  to  be  eradicated,"  before  the  pure  doctrine 
of  the  Church  of  England  could  be  successfully  im- 
planted in  the  unpromising  field  of  labor  presented 
to  him  for  cultivation.  Time  was  to  prove,  however, 
that  there  was  room  and  to  spare  for  all  at  seedtime, 
and  that  all  should  share  the  harvest. 

Among  the  Baptists  also  the  desire  *'to  fight  the 
good  fight"  found  concrete  expression  in  the  form  of 
a  new  meeting-house.  Since  the  days  of  good  old 
Pardon  Tillinghast,  the  "hay-cap-hke"  building  on 
the  Towne  Street  had  served  the  little  band  of  wor- 
shippers in  ''the  Baptist  way."  Within  its  smoke- 
grimed  walls  Elder  Jonathan  Sprague  had  edified 
many  a  congregation  by  the  rigor  of  his  orthodoxy, 
and  the  eloquence  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Joseph 
Jenckes  had  been  effectively  exerted  to  uphold  the 
cause  of  truth.   The  house  was,  however,  neither 


Tr ogress  205 

sightly  nor  commodious,  and  we  cannot  wonder  that 
the  swelling  tide  of  improvement  finally  swept  away 
the  old  building. 

The  new  meeting-house  stood  on  the  adjoining 
lot  on  the  Towne  Street.  It  was  begun  on  May  30, 
1726,  as  is  abundantly  testified  by  the  account-book 
of  Justice  Richard  Brown,  wherein  is  noted  the  din- 
ner provided  "  for  the  people  that  raised  the  Baptist 
meeting-house  in  Providence  (it  being  raised  this 
day)."  These  lusty  coadjutors  in  the  good  work 
were  regaled  with  "One  fat  sheep  which  weighed  43 
lbs.  the  quarter,"  and  cost  fourteen  shillings  and 
fourpence.  Eight  shillings  were  paid  to  the  cook  who 
was  responsible  for  serving  this  formidable  roast. 
For  side  dishes  there  were  "two  loaves  of  bread, 
which  weighed  15  lbs.,"  half  a  peck  of  peas,  and  one 
pound  of  butter.  A  meal  to  be  commended  for  the 
substantiality  and  sobriety  of  its  viands! 

The  new  meeting-house  was  about  forty  feet 
square,  so  we  are  told  by  John  Rowland,  one  of  the 
best-known  and  most  respected  of  the  townspeople 
of  the  early  nineteenth  century.  He  says:  "At  high 
water  the  tide  flowed  nearly  up  to  the  west  end  of  the 
building.  There  were  no  pews."  Benches  were 
placed  on  either  side  of  the  centre  aisle.  "The  elders 
nearest  the  place  usually  preached.  The  elders  were 
generally  farmers,  and  had  no  salary  or  any  other 
means  of  support  but  their  own  labor.  They  oflfi- 
ciated  in  any  place  where  there  was  a  gathering,  and 


2o6  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  people  did  not  know  who  was  to  speak  until  they 
saw  one  begin.  They  did  not  approve  of  singing  and 
never  practiced  it  in  public  worship.  When  more 
than  one  elder  was  present,  and  the  first  had  ex- 
hausted himself,  he  would  say,  'there  is  time  and 
space  left  if  any  one  has  further  to  offer.'  In  that 
case  another  and  another  would  offer  what  he  had  to 
say;  so  there  was  no  set  time  for  closing  the  meeting. 
As  elder  Winsor's  home  was  in  Providence,  he  gen- 
erally appeared  in  his  place  on  Sunday  [this  was 
some  thirty-five  years  after  the  day  of  Elder  Jona- 
than Sprague],  so  that  this  came  to  be  called  elder 
Winsor's  meeting.  The  house  could  not  contain  a 
large  congregation,  nor  did  the  number  present  seem 
to  require  a  larger  house,  as  they  were  not  crowded, 
though  many  of  them  came  in  from  the  neighboring 
towns  on  horseback,  with  women  behind  them  on 
pillions." 

A  community  of  less  than  four  thousand  souls, 
wherein  were  erected  during  a  single  decade  four 
meeting-houses,  is  surely  entitled  to  be  described  as 
enterprising.  It  is  true  that  these  centres  of  social  and 
religious  life,  both  new  and  old,  were  not  enthusiast- 
ically supported  by  the  population  as  a  whole.  Out- 
side aid  was  continually  forthcoming,  down  to  the 
time  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  clouds  of  darkness 
on  the  horizon  were  ever  threatening  to  overcome 
the  feeble  beams  of  the  candle  on  the  altar. 

In  other  fields  of  enterprise,  however,  the  towns- 


Map  of  Rhode  Island 

Surveyed  by  James  Helme  and  William  Chandler,  1741, 
from  the  manuscript  map  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society.  The  portion  reproduced  shows  Providence 
County. 


a'AAdzl  aaoHil  ho  iaM 

fH^\i  ,i3lbnfid0  mBiIIiW  bns  ambH  aamfij,  vd  bavaviuS 
IfionoJaiH  bnfiisl  aboH^  3d  J  ni  qncn  JqiiDgunKm  arli  moil 

.,.,n-.t.;w,,-,T    ...,rf.    1.. v. /,.,..,.•,    „.,;.-,,..    .,fT     .yj3bo2 

.vJnuoD 


^Progress  207 

people  prospered,  and  the  town  grew  in  numbers  and 
in  wealth.  From  a  recorded  population  of  1446,  in 
1708,  the  numbers  had  swelled  to  3916,  in  1730. 
From  this  time  to  the  Revolutionary  period  there 
seems  to  have  been  little  change.  If  some  outsiders 
came  to  the  town,  on  the  other  hand  a  goodly  pro- 
portion of  the  townspeople  went  afield  in  search  of 
home  and  fortune  elsewhere. 

Progress  during  these  years  of  transformation 
showed  itself  in  purely  secular  forms,  as  well  as  in 
efforts  to  further  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those  con- 
cerned. By  June,  1729,  population  had  so  increased 
that  ''the  more  remote  inhabitants"  from  such  cen- 
tres of  activity  as  existed  were  **  put  to  great  trouble 
and  difficulty,  in  prosecuting  their  affairs  in  the 
common  course  of  justice." 

It  was  to  mitigate  this  hardship  that  the  colony 
was  "divided  into  three  distinct  and  separate  coun- 
ties," namely,  —  Newport,  King's,  and  Providence ; 
in  each  of  which  was  to  be  "  forthwith  erected  .  .  . 
one  County  House,  and  one  County  Goal  .  .  .  meet 
and  convenient  for  the  holding  of  Courts  &  Security 
of  Prisoners."  Furthermore,  the  charge  was  to  be 
"defrayed  and  Paid"  by  the  colonial  treasury.  The 
civic  pride  of  the  good  people  of  Providence  was 
stimulated  to  immediate  action.  A  town-meeting 
was  convened  without  delay  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering "Wheither  there  should  be  any  money  al- 
lowed out  of  our  Town  Treasury  to  Add  If  need  be 


2o8  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

to  what  will  be  Allowed  out  of  the  General  Treasury 
for  the  building  of  the  County  Court  house,  so  that 
the  said  house  might  be  made  so  large  as  to  be  serv- 
iceable for  the  Townes  Publick  use."  The  demands 
made  by  the  servants  of  the  public  were  not  exor- 
bitant. Their  needs  were  satisfied  with  a  building 
"  fourty  foot  Long  and  thirty  foot  wide  and  Eighteene 
foot  stud  betwixt  Joynts,"  with  "a  Chimny  or  two 
.  .  .  from  the  Chamber  flower  and  upwards."  This 
spacious  public  edifice  was  to  be  forthcoming, 
"Provided  it  be  sett  in  the  Place  agreed  on."  The 
stipulated  agreement  was  not  reached,  however, 
until  after  three  months  of  argument  and  discussion, 
when  it  was  "detennined  by  voate"  that  the  new 
court-house  "should  be  sett  ...  at  Mr.  William 
Page's,"  on  the  present  Meeting  Street  a  little  west 
of  Benefit. 

In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  party  of  opposition,  — 
who  foresaw  disastrous  results  from  the  fact  that 
the  William  Page  land  was  entailed  "unto  William 
Olney,"  and  duly  set  forth  their  objections  in  a  peti- 
tion bearing  some  ninety-odd  signatures,  —  the 
majority  had  their  way,  and  the  house  was  "  set  up." 
More  than  twenty  years  later,  Olney  was  given 
"Liberty  to  Dock  said  Entail,"  in  order  that  a  clear 
deed  of  title  might  be  obtained. 

It  was  expected  that  the  new  building  would  be 
available  for  business  purposes  by  the  spring  of  173 1, 
and  the  April  town-meeting  was  summoned  to  meet 


Tr  ogress  209 

there.  But  the  inherent  inability  of  carpenters  and 
contractors  to  finish  a  job  on  time  had  evidently  not 
been  reckoned  with,  for  we  read  that  "for  Reason  of 
it  being  Cluttered  with  the  workmen  being  In  the 
finishing  of  it ;  the  Town  haveing  Liberty,  meet  in  the 
Quakers  meeting  house  .  .  .  Close  by."  It  was  not 
until  the  following  January  that  the  town-meeting 
was  enabled  to  enjoy  the  new  accommodations  on 
Gaol  Lane,  so  called  in  recognition  of  the  presence 
of  the  gaol,  which  stood  conveniently  at  hand  for  the 
ministrations  of  judge  and  jury. 

Courts  and  town-meetings  by  no  means  exhausted 
the  resources  of  the  new  edifice.  It  had  long  ceased 
to  be  a  novelty,  however,  when  the  day  came  on 
which  it  was  suggested  by  Stephen  Hopkins  that  the 
new  Providence  Library  might  well  be  accommo- 
dated with  house-room  within  the  precincts  dedicated 
to  law  and  order. 

When,  in  1742,  Stephen  Hopkins  left  his  boyhood's 
home  in  the  frontier  town  of  Scituate,  and  removed 
himself  and  his  family  to  Providence,  he  was  already 
a  man  of  note  in  the  business  circles  of  his  new  home. 
He  had  interests  in  the  commerce  both  of  Newport 
and  of  Providence,  and  was  remarked  by  all  who 
knew  him  as  a  young  man  of  ability  and  probity,  — 
one  who  was  born  to  be  a  leader  of  men.  His  well- 
known  house  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  thoroughfare 
known  to  us  as  Hopkins  Street.  When  his  unpreten- 
tious home  was  built,  there  was,  so  far  as  we  now 


2 1  o  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

know,  no  more  formal  highway  leading  up  the  hill 
than  a  well-worn  footpath.  Ten  years  later  a  "new 
way"  was  ordered  to  be  laid  out,  but  we  do  not  hear 
of  it  being  honorably  christened  before  1791,  when 
it  became  Bank  Lane,  in  honor  of  the  new  bank 
situated  thereupon.  Since  1805  it  has  been  Hopkins 
Street.  The  old  house  of  Governor  Hopkins  —  re- 
moved to  the  rear  of  its  first  site,  on  the  Towne 
Street  —  still  bears  witness  to  the  modest  and  unpre- 
tending scale  of  official  etiquette  which  obtained  in 
the  days  "when  we  lived  under  the  king." 

With  the  long  tale  of  Stephen  Hopkins's  public 
life  as  deputy,  chief  justice,  governor,  and  statesman, 
we  have  comparatively  small  concern.  It  is  as  a 
townsman  in  Providence  that  he  commands  our  in- 
terest and  admiration,  and  not  the  least  interesting 
of  his  many  schemes  for  the  public  welfare  is  his  zeal 
in  the  establishment  of  a  public  subscription  library. 
Probably  no  settlement  in  New  England  of  equal 
size  was  so  destitute  of  books  as  was  Providence. 
She  had  but  lately  made  her  first  feeble  attempt  to 
provide  a  schoolhouse  for  her  children.  No  book- 
seller was  found  sufficiently  sanguine  to  open  a  shop 
for  his  wares  until  ten  years  later  than  the  period  of 
which  we  are  speaking.  It  was  in  February,  1754, 
that  a  group  of  five  substantial  citizens,  headed  by 
Stephen  Hopkins,  represented  to  the  Colonial  As- 
sembly that,  prompted  by  a  desire  "  to  promote  use- 
ful Knowledge,"  they  had  "made  a  voluntary  sub- 


Stephen  Hopkins  House 

Built  about  1742,  moved  up  Hopkins  Lane  from  its 
form'er  location  on  the  Main  Street  in  1804.  From  a 
photograph  by  Willis  A.  Dean,  191 1. 


MU'l 


"Progress 


2  11 


scription,  and  thereby  .  .  .  raised  and  sent  to  Eng- 
land a  sum  of  money  sufficient  to  purchase  books  to 
furnish  a  small  library."  This  effort  had,  however, 
exhausted  their  resources,  and  in  the  hope  of  securing 
"a  proper  place  to  keep  the  books  in  when  they  ar- 
rive," the  Assembly  was  petitioned  for  leave  to  put 
them  in  the  council  chambers  in  the  Court-House. 
It  was  further  represented  that  this  arrangement, 
"so  far  from  being  any  inconvenience,  .  .  .  would 
be  a  real  ornament  to  the  house,  and  afford  an  agree- 
able amusement  to  the  members  in  their  leisure 
hours." 

Unless  the  novelty  of  handling  new  and  standard 
works  may  justly  be  denominated  a  diversion,  it  is 
difficult  to  realize  that  the  average  assemblyman 
could  be  expected  to  amuse  himself  with  Milton, 
Locke,  Pufendorf,  and  other  works  of  a  similarly 
light  and  frivolous  nature  which  adorned  the  shelves. 
Instruction  was,  however,  sufficiently  tempered  with 
recreation  to  admit  the  presence  of  Plutarch,  Tacitus, 
Prince's  New  England  Chronology,  and  Franklin's 
work  on  electricity,  and  it  is  possible  that  these  ap- 
peared more  amusing  to  our  forefathers  than  they 
would  to  us  of  the  present  day,  who  are  brought  up 
on  that  prepared  breakfast-food  of  literature,  —  the 
magazine. 

Five  years  later,  the  Colony  House  was  burned, 
and  with  it  that  portion  of  the  library  which  was  not 
at  the  moment  in  the  hands  of  the  subscribers.   It 


2 1 2  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

had  already  proved  a  popular  and  valuable  insti- 
tution. The  Colonial  Assembly,  on  being  duly  in- 
formed of  its  destruction,  pronounced  it  "a  very 
valuable  collection  of  books,"  and  enacted  that  of 
the  two  thousand  milled  dollars  to  be  raised  by  a 
lottery  for  rebuilding  the  Court-House  and  purchas- 
ing a  library,  one  half  should  be  devoted  to  the  latter 
end.  The  only  condition  imposed  was  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly  should  have  free  ac- 
cess to  the  shelves,  whereby  we  may  fairly  assume 
either  that  the  contents  proved  to  be  a  restful  alter- 
native to  the  labors  of  legislation,  or  that  then,  as 
now,  the  average  citizen  valued  the  privilege  of 
getting  something  for  nothing — even  when  he  did 
not  want  it.  At  a  later  session  it  was  formally  re- 
solved that  the  reestablishment  of  the  library  was  a 
work  "of  a  public  nature,  tending  to  promote  virtue 
and  the  good  of  mankind,"  and  on  these  grounds 
permission  was  given  the  "proprietors  of  the  late 
library"  "to  put  forth  a  lottery  sufficient  to  raise 
twelve  hundred  milled  dollars,  for  reestablishing  said 
library." 

The  new  home  in  which  the  reestablished  library 
was  duly  installed,  was  of  an  entirely  different  and 
much  more  pretentious  type  than  the  old  Colony 
House,  whose  dimensions  arouse  astonishment  rather 
than  admiration.  The  new  Colony  House  —  now 
known  as  the  old  State  House  —  bears  witness  to  the 
growth  of  prosperity  and  civic  pride  in  the  course  of 


Old  State  House 

North  Main  Street,  built   1760.    From  a  photograph 
taken  in  191 1. 


lifiM  dsioVl 


"Progress  2 1 3 

a  generation.  It  was  placed,  in  accordance  with  the 
directions  of  the  Colonial  Assembly,  "upon  the  very 
Commodious  and  suitable  Lot  to  the  Northward  of 
that  whereon  the  meeting  House  of  the  People  called 
Quakers  stands."  It  is  a  well-proportioned  building 
of  the  colonial  type,  built  of  red  brick  with  brown 
stone  trimmings.  Later  additions  have  done  much  to 
spoil  its  symmetry  of  outline.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not 
without  a  certain  oldtime  dignity,  as  it  stands  facing 
the  Towne  Street,  at  the  head  of  the  long,  gently- 
sloping  parade,  shadowed  with  trees,  and  flanked  by 
the  spacious  mansion-houses  of  a  bygone  generation. 
Its  walls  have  witnessed  many  a  public  gathering, 
some  of  great,  and  some  of  little,  moment.  Across 
its  threshold  have  passed  the  nation's  heroes,  and 
the  guests  whom  a  grateful  country  has  delighted  to 
honor. 

It  was  several  years  before  the  burning  of  the  Old 
Colony  House  that  the  adjoining  headquarters  of  the 
town's  criminal  population,  namely,  the  gaol,  was 
removed  to  a  more  conveniently  accessible  neighbor- 
hood. The  old  situation  at  the  corner  of  Benefit  and 
Meeting  Streets  had  proved  "  very  inconvenient  both 
as  to  Water  and  carting  Wood,"  for  it  was  necessary 
to  carry  these  requisites  to  comfort  '*  some  Distance 
up  a  Hill,"  and  in  order  to  mitigate  the  consequent 
distress,  "not  only  of  the  Gaol  Keeper,  but  the  poor 
Prisoners,"  the  colony  declared  itself  prepared  "to 
build  a  good  new  Gaol  House  ...  of  a  suitable 


2 1 4  Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

Bigness,"  on  condition  that  the  town  of  Providence 
should  provide  "a  good  convenient  Lot  of  Land" 
for  the  purpose. 

One  member  of  the  committee  appointed  to  deal 
with  this  problem  was  Stephen  Hopkins,  already 
a  leader  of  public  opinion  and  public  enterprise. 
Stephen  Hopkins  came  before  the  next  town-meeting 
to  suggest  a  certain  "convenient  Lot"  as  "a  proper 
place"  for  the  new  gaol.  With  all  due  deference  to 
the  abilities  of  this  great  statesman,  it  must  be  al- 
lowed that  his  ideas  of  propriety  would  hardly  be 
acceptable  to  the  present  generation.  His  suggestion 
was  —  and  it  was  forthwith  adopted  by  a  unanimous 
vote  —  that  "the  flats  in  the  Salt  River  being  the 
west  end  of  the  Lott  .  .  .  whereon  the  Towne 
Schoole  house  .  .  .  standeth,"  be  appropriated  for 
the  new  gaol.  The  schoolhouse,  fronting  on  the 
Towne  Street,  was  to  occupy  eighty  feet  of  the  lot, 
and  the  gaol  was  to  have  the  remainder,  extending 
over  the  mud  flats  to  the  channel  in  midstream.  A 
year  later  the  new  gaol  was  ready  for  business  and 
proved  to  be  of  a  sufficiently  "suitable  Bigness"  to 
satisfy  the  county's  taxpayers,  if  not  the  prisoners, 
until  1799,  when  it  was  replaced  by  a  larger  building 
on  the  same  site.  The  street  to  the  south  of  the  gaol 
lot,  leading  to  the  salt  water,  was  at  once  dubbed 
Gaol  Lane,  while  that  which  passed  its  former  abid- 
ing-place became  Old  Gaol  Lane. 

The  lot  whereon  stood  both  schoolhouse  and  gaol. 


Trogress  2 1 5 

bearing  witness  to  the  town's  solicitude  for  the  mental 
and  moral  welfare  of  its  citizens,  —  young  and  old,  — 
had  been  set  apart  for  educational  purposes  certainly 
as  early  as  1747.  It  was  across  the  street  from  the 
parade  of  the  old  Colony  House.  We  also  find  that 
a  school  committee  was  annually  instructed  to  take 
charge  of  the  schoolhouse,  "and  to  appoint  a  school- 
master to  teach"  therein.  Nor  are  we  without  in- 
formation as  to  the  instruction  furnished. 

Among  the  documents  in  possession  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society  is  the  ''Cipher  Book  of 
John  Brown,  1752,"  a  silent  witness  to  three  years' 
diligent  devotion  to  arithmetic  on  the  part  of  number 
three  of  the  four  brothers  Brown.  One  page  bears 
the  legend:  "John  Brown  his  Cyphring  Book  1749." 
The  course  of  study  began  with  the  definition, 
"Addition  Is  an  Arithmetical  gathering  of  Divers 
Sums  together  to  Produce  one  Total."  Examples  of  a 
general  nature  follow  the  exposition  of  the  four  fun- 
damentals —  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication, 
and  division.  We  find,  for  example:  "How  many 
Sparrows  at  10  a  Penny  will  buy  a  Yoke  of  Oxen  at 
;^io  Price."  And  again,  "Suppose  it  45  miles  to 
Boston,  How  many  Barley  Corns  will  Reach  there." 
The  solution  is  neatly  worked  out,  and  we  sympa- 
thize with  the  pride  of  the  boy  of  fourteen,  who  wrote 
in  a  round  hand  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  —  "John 
Brown  the  Cleverest  boy  in  Providence  Town." 
Another  heading  reads:  "  The  Golden  Rule,  or  rule 


2 1 6  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

of  3.  This  is  the  Golden  Rule  for  the  Excellency 
thereof."  Then  follow  practical  directions :  "To  work 
any  Question  In  the  Rule  of  Three,  you  must 
Observe  the  following  Rule :  — 

"If  the  4th  the  Second  must  Exceed  then  See 
By  the  Great  Extream  It  Multiplyed  be 
But  if  it  must  be  Less  than  Second  Aim 
To  Multiply  it  by  the  Less  Extream," 

John  Brown  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  first  among 
Providence  sea-captains  to  voyage  to  the  West 
Indies,  whence  many  a  cargo  of  molasses  was 
shipped  for  the  shop  on  the  Towne  Street  at  home. 
He  must  have  *' ciphered"  with  all  the  zest  of  experi- 
ence on  such  problems  as  the  following:  *'A  Mer- 
chant in  Providence  buys  48  Tun  of  Molasses  at 
Barbadoes  for  672/.  The  freight  from  thence  to 
Providence  Cost  him  160/.  for  Loading  and  unload- 
ing 72/.  for  Custom  12/.  and  Other  Charges  7/.  and 
would  Gain  250/.  by  the  Bargain.  What  is  the  Price 
of  16  Tun  of  Said  Molasses." 

John  Brown  and  his  school-fellows  belonged  to  a 
generation  whose  fathers  earned  a  livelihood  on  the 
sea  and  over  the  counter.  Their  demands  for  their 
children's  schooling  were  of  a  practical  nature, 
based  on  the  needs  of  the  coasting-trade  and  the 
shop.  John  and  his  friends  were  taught  accordingly. 
They  learned  the  "Rules  inTrett  and  Tare  &c.  Tare 
Is  the  weight  of  the  Bagg  Chest  &c.  Wherein  the 
Goods  are  Carried  or  put."  "  Trett  Is  an  Allowance 


Vrogress  217 

of  4  lb.  in  104  lb.  for  Goods  wherein  is  Loss  as, 
Treacle,  Sugar,  &c."  They  also  learned  the  rules 
for  barter,  by  which,  indeed,  the  greater  part  of  the 
town's  business  was  conducted.  They  learned  "Va- 
riety," of  which  the  following  problem  may  serve 
as  an  example:  "A  Tobaconist  would  mix  20  lb. 
of  Tobaco  at  g^.  a  lb.  with  40  lb.  at  \^d.  a  lb.  and 
with  30  lb.  at  18  Pence  and  with  12  lb.  at  2  Shillings  a 
Pound,  What  will  a  Pound  of  this  mixture  be  worth.?" 
The  answer  is,"  2  J-.  2. 2  6-i7farth."  There  were  sums 
in  square  root,  sums  in  finding  a  ship's  latitude, 
and  finally,  directions :  "  To  measure  a  Ship,  to  find 
her  Tunnage"  —  "Rule  first  Say  as  i:  Breadth:: 
Half  the  Breadth:  a  fourth  Number,  again  as  94:  the 
fourth  Number::  her  length: Tunnage." 

This  record  of  eighteenth-century  school-days 
takes  an  added  interest  from  the  fact  that  the  boy 
who  figured  at  latitude,  ships'  tonnage,  and  the  pro- 
fits of  a  West-Indian  cargo  was  to  fill  the  position  of 
the  leading  merchant  of  his  native  seaport,  and  to 
become  the  pioneer  in  her  East-India  trade.  John 
Brown's  instructor  during  those  three  eventful  years 
of  ciphering  is  not  known.  In  1753,  we  find  our  old 
friend,  George  Taylor,  of  King's  Church  Parish, 
oflficiating  as  town  schoolmaster,  with  the  proviso 
that  he,  "the  s'd  George  doth  .  .  .  Oblige  himself 
to  .  .  .  teach  one  poor  Child,  such  as  the  s'd  Com- 
mittee shall  recommend,  Gratis,  or  for  nothing." 


2 1 8  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  inference  is  that  instruction  for  the  remaining 
pupils  was  furnished  on  a  different  basis. 

After  the  burning  of  the  old  Colony  House,  in 
1758,  and  in  response  to  an  apparent  and  not  alto- 
gether surprising  dissatisfaction  with  the  environ- 
ment provided  by  the  town  for  the  educational  pur- 
suits of  its  young  people,  it  was  decided  to  sell  the 
town  schoolhouse  and  lot,  and  to  use  the  money  thus 
obtained  for  the  purchase  of  "a  more  Convenient 
Lot,  and  Building  a  Publick  School  House  .  .  .  To 
be  keept  up  forever  for  the  same  publick  Emolements 
as  the  old  .  .  .  School  was,  or  ought  to  have  been." 
The  site  of  the  old  Colony  House  was  selected  and 
approved.  The  plan  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
townspeople,  the  interest  became  general,  and  at 
length  public  sentiment  was  sufficiently  aroused  to 
undertake  to  ''purchase  or  erect  Three  School 
Houses  for  the  Education  of  Small  children  and  one 
for  the  Education  of  Youth."  But  by  the  time  that 
the  reports  of  the  committees  appointed  to  consider 
sites,  buildings,  and  regulations  were  brought  in,  the 
wave  of  popular  enthusiasm  had  subsided.  The  re- 
ports were  rejected,  and  only  "  the  School  House  near 
the  Court  House"  finally  appeared  as  the  result  of  a 
really  enlightened  scheme  for  public  education. 

The  new  schoolhouse  is  the  brick  two-storied 
structure  still  standing  on  Meeting  Street,  and  known 
as  the  "Old  Brick  Schoolhouse."  Among  the  provi- 
sions for  the  education  of  youth  embodied  in  the 


Tr ogress  2 1 9 

rejected  report  of  the  town's  committee,  we  find  the 
following  suggestions  as  to  a  desirable  curriculum: 
two  hours  in  each  day  should  be  "taken  up  ...  in 
perfecting  the  scholars  in  reading  and  properly  un- 
derstanding the  English  tongue."  The  remaining 
time  at  the  disposal  of  the  student  might,  it  was 
thought,  be  advantageously  devoted  to  "writing, 
arithmetic,  the  various  branches  of  mathematics,  and 
the  learned  languages." 

The  Brick  Schoolhouse  was  paid  for  in  part  by  the 
town,  and  in  part  by  private  subscription.  The  pro- 
prietors owned  the  upper  story  of  the  building,  and 
the  town  the  lower,  and  we  are  told  that  the  town 
appointed  masters  to  keep  school  in  their  part  of  the 
building,  and  that  this  arrangement  was  kept  up 
until  1785.  Another  schoolhouse  was  built,  entirely 
by  private  enterprise,  in  1768.  This  was  Whipple 
Hall,  at  the  North  End  of  the  town,  so  called  in  grate- 
ful acknowledgment  of  the  generosity  of  Captain 
John  Whipple,  who  donated  the  lot.  This  school- 
house  was  one  story  in  height,  with  a  hipped  roof 
surmounted  by  a  belfry.  The  subscribers  —  forty- 
two  in  number  —  paid  a  tuition  fee  of  four  shillings 
and  sixpence.  Outsiders  were  charged  an  additional 
two  shillings.  Two  schools  were  accommodated 
within  the  walls  of  Whipple  Hall,  and  of  these  the 
upper  grade  was  in  charge  of  the  estimable  Geoge 
Taylor. 

On  the  West  Side  of  the  Great  River  a  subscription 


2  2  o  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

for  building  a  schoolhouse  had  been  started  in  1751, 
when  the  town  was  petitioned  for  liberty  to  build  "at 
the  sandy  hill  called  Fowler's  hill  by  Joseph  Snow 
Junrs  dwelling  house,"  and  when  it  was  ascertained 
that  there  was  "sufficient  Roome  and  not  damnific 
the  highway,"  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  was 
readily  granted.  But  alas!  the  cause  of  academic  pro- 
gress was  doomed  to  disappointment.  For  the  stated 
width  of  the  highway  being  fifty  feet,  there  was  left 
at  the  disposal  of  the  subscribers  just  sixteen  feet  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  proposed  schoolhouse. 
The  West-Siders  wasted  no  more  time  haggling  with 
the  town-meeting,  but  with  characteristic  energy  and 
dispatch  bought  a  lot  and  built  a  schoolhouse  at  the 
corner  of  Mathewson  and  Chapel  Streets.  The  build- 
ing was  finished  in  1754,  in  good  time  to  serve  as  a 
model  for  the  East  Side  Whipple  Hall. 

One  result  of  the  destruction  of  the  Old  Colony 
House  was  the  conviction  thus  brought  home  to  the 
townspeople  that  they  were  without  adequate  pro- 
tection against  fire.  In  1754  "the  inhabitants  of  the 
compact  part  of  the  town"  had  taken  it  on  them- 
selves to  inform  the  Colonial  Assembly  that  there 
was  "a  great  Necessity  to  have  a  Water-Engine  of  a 
Large  Size  purchased,  to  extinguish  Fires  that  may 
casually  break  out  in  said  Town;  and  that  the  best 
way  to  Obtain  one  will  be  by  laying  a  Tax  on  the 
Houses,  Goods,  &  other  things  to  be  destroyed  by 
Fire." 


Progress 


22  1 


The  Assembly  readily  accorded  the  petitioners 
permission  to  tax  themselves  for  the  protection  of 
their  own  property  and  —  strange  to  relate!  —  a  tax 
was  actually  levied,  and  an  engine  procured  from 
London.  It  proved  in  some  respects  a  disappoint- 
ment to  the  purchasers,  who  found  "the  workman- 
ship .  .  .  not  Agreeable  to  [the  makers']  Discrip- 
tion."  At  the  normal  rate  of  progress  in  undertakings 
of  a  public  nature  this  engine  can  hardly  have  been 
delivered  in  Providence  under  two  years,  —  that  is 
to  say,  in  1756.  In  1758,  the  town  was  called  on  to 
pay  six  pounds  and  ten  shillings  to  one  Mr.  Amos 
Atwell,  "it  being  for  mending  the  Engine,"  and  no 
doubt  this  amount  seemed  to  the  frugal-minded  tax- 
payer an  excessive  sum  to  be  set  down  to  "wear  and 
tear. 

The  loss  of  the  Colony  House  in  December,  1758, 
emphasized  afresh  the  shortcomings  of  the  fire  de- 
partment, both  in  equipment  and  in  organization. 
Before  a  month  had  gone  by,  the  rate  for  a  new 
engine  was  assessed.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-two 
substantial  townsmen  contributed.  The  total  amount 
obtained  was  £2']()^,  in  colonial  currency.  Elisha 
Brown  figures  as  the  largest  taxpayer.  He  paid  £60. 
The  smallest  assessment  was  £2.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  a  year  later  that  matters  were  sufficiently 
advanced  to  enable  the  committee  in  charge  — 
namely,  Obadiah  Brown  and  James  Angell  —  to 
send  an  order  for  the  new  engine  to  Joseph  Sher- 


2  2  2  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

wood,  the  colony's  agent  in  London.  A  bill  of  ex- 
change for  eighty  pounds  sterling  accompanied  a 
description  of  the  engine  desired.  This  was  to  be  a 
"  Fifth  Size  Engine  .  .  .  made  in  the  best  manner, 
Lin'd  &  Compleated  for  the  Working  of  Salt  Waters 
as  the  Scituation  of  this  town  Requires."  It  was  to 
have  *'Three  Length  of  Leathern  pipe  40  feet  each 
with  Brass  Screws  &  One  sucking  pipe  of  Ten  feet 
Compleat."  The  agent  was  begged  to  take  particular 
care  that  all  specifications  were  duly  fulfilled,  and  the 
matter  was  carefully  explained  to  be  "a  Government 
Concern,"  since  the  committee,  although  acting  for 
the  town  of  Providence,  were  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

To  this  request  Friend  Joseph  replied  in  due  course 
that  the  engine  was  purchased  and  would  soon  be 
shipped,  and  expressed  his  great  pleasure  at  "Every 
Opportunity  of  Oblidging  any  part  of  the  Colony  or 
any  Particular  Gentleman  in  it."  This  effusion  was 
penned  in  June,  1760,  and  in  December  the  engine 
was  reported  safe  at  Boston.  A  town-meeting  was 
promptly  summoned  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
money  to  pay  the  freight  from  Boston  to  Providence, 
and  "to  devise  some  proper  place  for  Keeping  of  said 
Engine  wheen  Come  to  hand."  The  first  point  at 
issue  was  covered  by  the  assessment  of  a  "rate,"  and 
shortly  after,  five  boxes  of  "Spermacete  Candles" 
were  despatched  to  Boston,  "to  replace  the  money 
advanced  for  freight  —  with  Interest."   It  was  fur- 


Tr  ogress  223 

ther  resolved  that  ''the  Largest  Engine"  should  be 
kept  at  the  "House  at  the  Bridge  opposit  Judge 
Jenckes,"  and  "the  other  ...  on  the  Gangway  to 
the  South  of  the  Baptis  Meeting  House,"  namely, 
Smith  Street. 

The  mechanism  of  this  new  importation  is  believed 
to  have  been  a  combination  of  sea-pumps,  attached 
to  a  large  tub-like  tank,  and  worked  by  long  arms,  or 
handles.  The  tank  was  filled  by  "good  leathern 
buckets,"  of  which  each  housekeeper  was  required  by 
law  to  possess  two.  Men  and  boys  formed  lines  from 
the  engine  to  the  source  of  supply,  and  the  brimming 
buckets  were  passed  up  to  the  tank  by  one  line,  and 
came  back  empty  by  the  other.  Good  order  and 
systematic  treatment  of  the  case  in  hand  were  insured 
by  the  presence  of  fire-wards  or  wardens,  appointed 
from  different  parts  of  the  town,  and  each  having  "a 
Proper  Badge  assigned  him  ...  to  Wit,  A  Speaking 
Trumpet  coloured  red."  These  officers  were  author- 
ized by  the  Colonial  Legislature  "to  require  and 
command  Assistance  for  Suppressing  and  extin- 
guishing the  Fire."  The  same  august  authority  re- 
quired of  each  fire-warden  that,  "upon  Notice  of  the 
breaking  forth  of  Fire,"  he  should  "take  his  Badge, 
and  repair  immediately  to  the  Place,  and  vigorously 
exert  his  Authority." 

The  limits  of  "the  compact  part  of  the  Town  of 
Providence,"  within  which  the  above  rules  and  regu- 
lations applied,  were  duly  set  forth  as  follows:  "The 


2  24  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

House  of  Jabez  Whipple,  and  that  of  Peter  Randal, 
standing  opposite  to  it  [these  worthies  lived  just 
south  of  the  present  North  Burial  Ground]  and  from 
thence  Southward,  all  the  Buildings  that  are  or  shall 
be  erected,  butting  on  or  near  adjacent  to  the  Streets 
both  old  and  new  [just  at  this  time  new  streets  were 
being  opened  in  several  parts  of  the  town],  ...  to- 
gether with  all  the  Mills  and  Houses  in  that  part 
of  the  Town  which  is  called  Charlestown  [between 
Smith  and  Orms  Streets,  and  extending  to  the  river] 
as  far  Westward  as  the  Town  Pound  [at  the  corner 
of  Smith  and  Charles  Streets] ;  and  all  such  Part  of  the 
said  Town  as  is  called  the  Point,  as  far  Westward  as 
the  Burying  Ground."  The  *'  Point"  was  Weybosset 
Point,  and  the  drift  of  the  town's  population  west- 
ward within  fifteen  years  had  been  such  as  to  bring 
the  "compact  part"  thereof  to  the  boundary  of  Doc- 
tor John  Hoyle's  unfortunate  purchase  for  the  first 
group  of  worshippers  "in  the  Congregational  or 
Presbyterian  way."  It  will,  perhaps,  be  remembered 
that,  although  the  infant  society  refused  to  build  their 
meeting-house  beyond  the  confines  of  civilization, 
they  took  the  land  off  Hoyle's  hands.  It  was  used  as 
a  burial-ground  until  late  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Fifty-two  of  the  contributors  to  the  new  fire-engine 
in  1760  lived  on  the  west  side  of  Weybosset 
Bridge. 

Some  ten  years  later,  the  Providence  town-meeting 
deemed  it  advisable  to  draw  up  certain  supplement- 


Progress  225 

ary  "Rules  and  Regulations"  for  the  proper  proced- 
ure in  time  of  fire.  These  treated  the  matter  in  more 
detail  than  those  furnished  by  the  Colonial  Assem- 
bly. The  town  fathers,  in  their  published  code,  re- 
quired ''every  Person  to  take  Care  ...  to  inform 
where  the  Fire  is,"  and  at  the  same  time  warned 
"every  Person"  that  before  running  to  the  fire  he 
should  "take  Care  to  put  on  his  Cloaths,  and  take  his 
Buckets  in  his  Hand."  Once  arrived  at  the  scene  of 
action,  all  were  to  be  "as  silent  as  possible,  that  they 
may  hear  the  Directions,"  and  to  obey  the  same 
"without  Noise  or  Contradiction."  A  timely  caution 
to  those  "who  have  the  Right  to  command  at  Fires" 
follows.  They  must  "take  great  Care  to  appear  calm 
and  firm  on  those  Occasions,  and  give  their  .  .  . 
Directions  with  distinct  Clearness,  and  great  Author- 
ity"; and  above  all,  "be  very  careful  not  to  con- 
tradict one  another."  To  the  turbulent  democracy 
at  large  there  is  addressed  a  tactful  statement  to 
the  effect  that  the  authority  thus  exercised  by  the 
fire-wardens  is  not  given  them  "meerly  that  they 
may  command  and  domineer  over  their  Neighbours 
.  .  .  but  the  absolute  Necessity  of  the  Case  requires 
it,  and  the  Safety  of  the  whole  depends  upon  it," 
etc. 

We  feel,  as  we  read,  that  the  pioneer  fire-brigades 
of  Providence  strongly  resembled  that  famous  regi- 
ment of  Artemus  Ward's,  wherein  all  the  privates 
demanded  to  be  brigadier-generals. 


Chapter  VII 

THE  SHIPPING  TRADE 

THERE  is  another  aspect  of  the  town's 
growth,  and  it  is  one  of  fundamental  im- 
portance. The  influence  of  the  fast-swelling 
commerce  of  the  port  of  Providence  must  have  been 
a  considerable  factor,  not  only  in  providing  solid 
profits  wherewith  to  pay  for  court-house  and  school- 
house,  but  still  more  in  enlarging  the  mental,  as  well 
as  the  nautical,  horizon  of  her  worthy  traders.  It 
brought  to  the  complacent  stay-at-home  people  a 
realizing  sense  of  their  own  shortcomings  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  other  communities. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  commerce  of  Rhode  Island 
antedates  her  existence  as  a  colony.  The  wide- 
awake Dutch  colonists  of  the  seventeenth  century 
had  established  their  trading-posts  in  Narragansett 
Bay  before  either  Roger  Williams  or  Anne  Hutchin- 
son took  refuge  on  its  quiet  shores.  Nor  were  the  set- 
tlers of  Newport  slow  to  enter  into  their  heritage. 
Their  lands  were  scarcely  surveyed  before  a  sawmill 
was  set  up  and  timber  cut  for  the  export  trade.  Ship- 
yards were  filling  orders  as  early  as  1646.  The  ship- 
ping-trade of  Newport  grew  with  really  wonderful 
rapidity,  and  until  well  into  the  eighteenth  century 
she  was  the  headquarters  for  by  far  the  greater  part 


The  Shipping  Trade       227 

of  the  trade  of  Providence,  in  manufactured  articles 
and  dry  goods. 

We  may  be  very  sure  that  local  imports  in  both 
these  lines  of  trade  were  but  meagre  during  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  farmers  of  Providence 
were  far  too  poverty-stricken  to  indulge  in  much 
besides  the  necessaries  of  existence.  Such  articles 
as  were  brought  into  town  from  Newport  or  Reho- 
both  were  paid  for  in  tobacco,  pease,  and  similar 
farm  produce.  The  annals  of  the  Providence  ship- 
ping of  the  seventeenth  century  are  quickly  told. 
The  first  evidence  of  an  export  trade  appears  in  1652, 
when  John  Smith  of  Providence  sent  a  consignment 
of  flour,  tobacco,  and  pease  to  Newfoundland.  By 
the  end  of  another  ten  years  we  find  indications  of 
a  more  or  less  extensive  trade  between  Providence 
and  Barbadoes.  When  William  Field  made  his  will, 
in  1665,  he  included  among  the  items  of  his  property 
"all  that  cargo  that  is  now  upon  Sending  to  the 
Barbados,"  and  also  "that  which  is  asyett  coming 
to  me  from  the  Barbados,  which  is  from  thence 
due  to  me." 

As  for  imports,  there  are  two  recorded  voyages 
made  by  the  sloop  of  Providence  Williams  (the  oldest 
son  of  Roger) .  One  was  on  that  well-known  occasion, 
at  the  close  of  King  Philip's  War,  when  he  removed 
the  Indian  prisoners  from  Providence  to  the  colony 
gaol  at  Newport.  The  other  took  place  three  years 
later,  when  Captain  Arthur  Fenner  "shipped  on 


2  2  8  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

board  of  providence  Williams  his  Sloope"  three 
barrels  of  rum,  one  hundredweight  of  sugar,  one 
panier,  and  ''one  Collor  for  a  horse."  Five  years 
after  the  shipment  of  this  important  consignment, 
we  find  a  Boston  skipper  bringing  into  Newport  four 
casks  of  rum  and  two  barrels  of  molasses  for  "the 
use  and  Account  of  John  Whipple  of  the  Towne  of 
Providence." 

By  this  time  (1684)  warehouse  lots  along  the 
shore,  "  with  the  privilege  of  a  whorfe  allso,"  had 
been  already  granted  to  some  dozen  of  the  more 
stirring  spirits  among  the  townspeople.  In  17 12, 
Nathaniel  Brown  of  Kittle  Point  was  given  land  on 
Weybosset  Neck  for  his  shipyard.  Although  doubt 
has  been  expressed  as  to  the  actual  setting-up  of  the 
shipyard  at  that  point,  —  since  five  years  later  that 
and  other  adjacent  and  unimproved  lands  were  laid 
out  by  the  town  as  town-land,  —  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  somewhere  Nathaniel  Brown  built  vessels 
for  Providence  traders,  and  notably  for  the  two 
Crawfords,  Major  William  and  Captain  John.  Nor 
was  Nathaniel  Brown  the  only  shipwright  available. 
There  are  evidences  of  the  existence  of  a  shipyard  at 
the  southern  end  of  the  Towne  Street  in  these  early 
days  of  the  eighteenth  century;  while  before  1720, 
John  Barnes  was  filling  orders  at  his  shipyard  north 
of  Weybosset  Bridge,  at  the  foot  of  the  present 
Waterman  Street. 

By  1720,  the  era  of  the  sea-trade  of  Providence  was 


The  Shipping  Trade       229 

fairly  under  way.  The  eight  years  intervening  since 
the  town's  grant  to  Nathaniel  Brown  had  witnessed 
the  appearance  in  this  particular  field  of  action  of  the 
men  who  became  the  merchant-adventurers  of  the 
little  seaport.  Their  pluck  and  perseverance  laid  the 
foundations  of  firms  whose  reputation  has  become 
international.  The  long  lethargy  of  the  Providence 
husbandman  was  broken.  He  awoke  to  the  fact  that 
swapping  live  stock  and  "parcels"  of  land  need  not 
fill  life's  possibilities  for  himself  and  his  sons.  He 
went  down  to  the  sea  in  ships;  he  came  in  contact 
with  men  of  other  countries,  nationalities,  and  cus- 
toms ;  and  he  gained  thereby  a  self-reliance,  a  poise, 
a  capacity  for  dealing  with  men  and  with  aff^airs, 
which  is  attained  in  no  school  save  that  of  experience. 
The  man  who  took  a  sloop  of  from  twenty  to  sixty 
tons  burden  from  the  Providence  wharf  on  the 
Towne  Street  to  St.  Eustatius,  Martinique,  or  Suri- 
nam, there  to  dispose  of  his  cargo  of  horses,  lumber, 
candles,  and  cheese,  and  to  purchase  a  cargo  for  the 
return  voyage,  must  needs  have  been  a  man  of  judg- 
ment, of  shrewd  business  ability,  of  resource,  and  of 
an  energy  that  frequently  merged  into  audacity. 

Foremost  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  exchanged 
the  profession  of  farmer  and  land-trader  for  that  of 
sailor  and  ship-owner,  we  find  representatives  of  the 
Tillinghast,  Power,  and  Brown  families.  Colonel 
Nicholas  Power  was  the  third  of  that  name.  His 
grandfather  settled  in  Providence  in  1642.  His  father 


230  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

was  killed  in  the  Great  Swamp  Fight  of  King  Philip's 
War.  It  may  be  that  as  his  infant  son  grew  to  man- 
hood his  imagination  was  stirred  by  tales  of  the  large 
plantations  in  Surinam,  which  were  said  to  have  been 
his  grandfather's.  It  is  sad  to  have  to  allow  that  the 
estates  were  purely  mythical,  but  young  Nicholas  — 
like  many  another  lad  —  may  have  found  in  fancy  a 
stimulus  to  action  far  more  potent  than  prosaic  facts. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  Nicholas  Power  found  op- 
portunity to  crystallize  his  dreams  in  the  form  of 
shares  in  the  vessels  of  his  brother-in-law,  Benjamin 
Tillinghast,  the  son  of  our  old  acquaintance.  Elder 
Pardon  Tillinghast.  When  Benjamin  Tillinghast 
died  in  1726,  he  left  to  his  heirs  a  "third  part"  of  one 
sloop,  and  "a  quarter  part"  of  another,  while  his 
warehouses  were  replete  with  "  coco,  salt,  sugar, 
molasses  Rum  and  other  Spirits,"  and  sundry  ship 
goods.  Colonel  Nicholas  Power  and  his  wife,  Mercy 
Tillinghast,  were  blessed  with  a  family  of  five  daugh- 
ters and  one  son.  The  oldest  daughter,  Hope  Power, 
was  wooed  and  won  by  a  sailor  lad,  and  on  December 
21,  1722,  she  bestowed  her  heart  and  hand  on  the 
rising  young  captain  and  ship-owner,  James  Brown. 
This  James  Brown  was  the  great-grandson  of  Chad 
Brown,  "first-comer,"  and  also  first  town-surveyor. 
His  father  —  likewise  James  —  was  a  well-to-do 
citizen  and  husbandman,  and  a  steadfast  upholder  of 
the  Baptist  doctrine  according  to  the  "  six  principles 
in  Hebrews  6.  i.  2."  There  is  still  extant  a  letter  of 


The  Shipping  Trade       2  3 1 

his,  written  to  elucidate  his  views  in  the  eyes  of  "  a 
meeting  of  the  baptized  congregation  in  providence," 
in  which  he  makes  use  of  the  following  quaint  illus- 
tration: "Whyaneyman  Should  pretend  to  leve  out 
aney  one  of  those  six  principles  sencit  will  but 
Weaken  the  building  —  I  propose  that  if  aney  man 
should  agree  with  a  carpender  to  build  him  a  house 
and  to  finish  it  Workmanlike  for  such  a  Sum  of 
money,  and  the  carpender  should  Leve  out  one  of  the 
principle  parts  or  foundation  of  the  house,  the  man 
would  find  fait  and  Workmen  would  condem  the 
carpender.  Suppose  the  man  should  indent  with  the 
carpender  to  make  6  windos  in  the  ist  room,  but  the 
carpender  being  in  a  hurre  makes  but  5,  the  man 
would  be  afended  and  the  carpender  condemed  by 
good  workmen,  but  if  this  way  of  reasoning  bee 
Wright  then  to  leve  out  areaone  of  the  six  princyples 
of  christs  docterin  is  rong.  but  to  keep  them  together 
as  in  hebrews  the  6th  makes  a  rule  of  communian." 
Elder  James  Brown  stood  by  his  creed  with  that 
uncompromising  "rigour"  of  which  the  worthy  Mrs. 
Battle  was  so  earnest  an  advocate.  He  is  on  record  as 
one  of  those  who  agreed  that "  if  any  Brother  or  Sister 
shall  join  in  Prayer  without  the  bounds  of  the  Church 
they  are  liable  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  Church  for 
their  offending  their  Brethren."  James,  Junior,  also 
signed  this  expression  of  unanimity  of  opinion,  —  if 
not  of  good  will.  A  few  years  later,  however,  a  more 
charitable  point  of  view  commended  itself  to  him, 


232  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

and  in  a  somewhat  remarkable  document,  written  in 
May,  1738,  about  a  year  before  his  death,  he  ad- 
dresses his  neighbors  as  follows:  "  That  if  it  be  the 
pleasure  of  the  Heavens  to  take  the  Breath  out  of  my 
Mortal  Body  .  .  .  I  am  Quite  free  and  Willing  that 
My  Body  may  be  Opened,  in  Order  that  my  fellow 
Cretures  and  Neighbours  may  See  Whether  My 
Grievance  hath  been  nothing  but  the  Spleen  or  not. 
And  one  thing  more  I  would  leave  with  you  (my 
Neighbours)  which  is  the  Ignorance  of  all  Ministers 
who  have  disputes  and  debates  Concerning  the  way 
of  their  Sarving  their  God ;  they  do  not  consider  that 
it  is  Makeing  him  inferiour  to  themselves ;  which  Me- 
thinks  they  would  not  do,  if  they  could  but  see  and 
Consider  that  they  themselves  have  an  Equal  Respect 
to  their  Children,  Servants,  or  Others  of  their  fellow 
Creatures  when  they  Serve  them  Equally  alike." 

This,  however,  is  anticipating  the  chronological 
order  of  events.  Almost  two  years  before  he  became 
the  husband  of  Hope  Power,  James  Brown,  Junior, 
—  then  a  young  man  of  twenty-three,  —  appears  as 
one  of  five  partners,  "all  of  Providence,"  who  em- 
ployed a  certain  *'John  Barns  of  Providence"  to 
build  a  sloop;  "said  Sloope  to  be  forty  five  foote  by 
the  Keele ;  seaventeene  foot  and  halfe  by  the  beame 
and  seavon  foot  and  halfe  in  the  Whole."  She  was 
to  be  delivered  "afloate  on  the  north  side  of  Way- 
bausett  Bridg,"  and  to  be  paid  for  "after  the  Rate  of 
Two  pounds  &  seaventeene  shillings  pr  Tun."  An- 


The  Shipping  Trade       233 

other  digression  from  the  path  of  chronological  nar- 
ration must  be  made  at  this  point  to  enable  us  to  cal- 
culate the  tonnage  of  the  new  sloop  by  means  of 
the  rule  neatly  inscribed  in  John  Browtj's  Cipher 
Book,  some  thirty  years  later.  In  this  way  we  learn 
that  John  Brown's  father's  sloop,  built  in  172 1,  was  a 
vessel  of  about  seventy-three  tons.  When  the  con- 
tract was  signed,  James  Brown  owned  a  quarter  in- 
terest in  the  new  boat.  Before  a  year  had  passed  he 
had  purchased  another  quarter. 

Events  followed  fast  in  the  life  of  this  resolute 
young  man  during  the  next  few  years.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  December,  1722.  Six  weeks  later  we  find  him 
on  the  quarter-deck  of  "the  Sloop  Named  the  four 
bachelors,"  as  Captain  James  Brown.  The  good 
sloop  was  lying  in  Newport  Harbor,  ready  "to  Sayl 
with  the  first  fair  Wind  &  Weather  ...  to  Some  of 
the  Leeward  Islands  in  the  West  Indies."  When 
there,  her  captain  was  ordered  to  dispose  of  the 
cargo,  and  also  of  the  sloop  "  if  an  Oportunity  pre- 
sents .  .  .  and  To  lay  out  the  produce  thereof  in 
Such  Commodityes  ...  as  your  Judgement  &  dis- 
cresion  Shall  direct  you:  for  our  best  advantage  .  .  . 
and  So  God  Send  you  a  prosperous  Voyage."  And 
with  this  pious  wish,  good  Nicholas  Power  signed  his 
name,  "in  behalf  of  myself  &  Company  owners  of 
the  Said  Sloop  and  Cargo  on  board."  By  the  follow- 
ing October  the  gallant  captain  had  come  safe  to 
port,  and  we  are  surely  justified  in  assuming  the  voy- 


2  34  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

age  a  prosperous  one,  for  once  ashore  Captain  James 
straightway  opened  a  shop  on  the  Towne  Street,  on  a 
warehouse  lot  some  seventy  feet  south  of  the  corner 
where  College  Street  meets  Market  Square,  and  just 
across  the  way  from  his  own  home.  It  is  to  the  wise 
forethought  of  his  youngest  son,  Moses,  that  we  of 
the  present  day  are  indebted  for  the  preservation  of 
the  documents  in  which  these  details  are  found.  That 
same  indefatigable  investigator  of  things  genealogical 
and  historical  has  left  us  two,  out  of  three,  of  his 
father's  shop-ledgers,  and  they  have  proved  a  mine 
of  information  for  all  facts  and  details  respecting  the 
stock  in  trade  and  business  methods  of  this  the  first 
department  store  in  Providence. 

JAMES  BROWNS  FIRST  LEDGER 
1723 
opens  with  an  index  of  his  customers,  alphabetically 
arranged  according  to  the  initial  letter  of  their  given 
names,  and  phonetically  spelled  in  accordance  with 
the  compiler's  interpretation  of  sound.  Under  the 
letter  "B"  we  find  — 

Brother  Joseph 
Bainonai  Crabtrey 
Bainonai  watterman 
Brother  andrew  Brown 

Under  "D"  we  have— 

Danel  Oldney 
doctor  Gebbs 
doctor  Jabis  Boin 


Letter  OF  "Directions"  from  James  Brown  to  his 
Wife,  August  23,  1737 

From  the  Aloses  Brown  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  3,  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 


;^IIi   OT  V!'// 


iboH>i 


■  '    t/ 


r^ 


fUi<y    e/ xvj& 


The  Shipping  Trade       235 

"F"  shows  us  — 

Father  Brown 
feirnot  packer 
francis  hamblhon 
Father  Power 

Occasionally  a  man's  trade  is  given,  as  "Paul 
the  tanner,  Allin  the  Blockmason,  Tom  indian." 
A  stranger  is  often  designated  as  such:  "Thomas 
Stevens  of  Plainfield;  William  admons  of  Wan- 
soket." 

The  indebtedness  of  the  customer  is  entered  item 
by  item  on  the  left-hand  page,  and  opposite  appear 
such  articles  accepted,  or  services  rendered,  as  may 
be  credited  to  his  account.  The  first  entry  in  the 
book  serves  to  conclude  the  tale  of  the  cruise  of  the 
Four  Bachelors  to  the  Leeward  Islands.  Under  the 
date  of  October  9, 1723,  we  read  that  Mr.  Nicholas 
Powers's  account  is  settled,  and  that  there  is  "du  to 
him  £^.  o.  I,  onley  he  is  to  pay  £'^j.  10.  o  to  the 
wanscut  main  [men]  for  their  partes  of  the  sloope 
foure  Bachilors." 

The  responsibilities  of  captain,  supercargo,  and 
shopkeeper  did  not  weigh  so  heavily  on  our  young 
merchant-adventurer  as  to  repress  all  manifestations 
of  that  exuberance  of  spirits  which  is  one  of  the  pre- 
rogatives of  youth.  On  at  least  one  occasion  his  su- 
perfluous energy  so  shocked  the  standard  of  decorum 
prevailing  in  Newport  that  a  worthy  citizen  of  that 
highly  respectable  town  entered  a  complaint  against 


236  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

"Capt.  James  Browne  Junr  ...  for  the  breach  of 
his  majestyes  Peace."  Captain  James,  on  being 
brought  before  the  court  at  Providence,  "  owned  the 
fact,"  and  was  sentenced  to  pay  ''the  Sum  of  twelve 
shillings  Currant  money  as  a  fine  to  his  Majestye." 
We  have  no  information  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  peace  of  Newport  was  thus  violently  disturbed. 
Perhaps  Captain  James  Brown's  idea  of  fun  was  not 
dissimilar  to  that  of  his  sons,  some  twenty-five  years 
later,  when  Moses  Brown,  at  Lebanon,  was  informed 
by  a  letter  of  young  Jabez  Bowen  that  "Brothers  J. 
Brown  and  J.  Updike  have  Broke  the  Meeting  Hous 
windows.  You  must  make  hast  home  or  Else  you 
will  Loose  the  Cream."  It  seems  pretty  evident  that 
Captain  James  made  sure  of  the  "Cream,"  and 
cheerfully  paid  the  bill. 

It  is  also  evident  that  a  man  of  his  energy  and  abil- 
ity would  not  find  either  of  these  attributes  exhausted 
by  the  demands  of  his  business  on  the  Towne  Street. 
Wife,  home,  and  shop  could  not  sufl[ice  to  keep  our 
gallant  captain  in  port.  On  February  24,  1727,  he 
"sailed  oute  from  Behind  dumpileng"  (Dumpling), 
master  of  the  sloop  Truth  and  Delight,  with  "a  Brave 
Gail  and  fair  wether  .  .  .  Bounde  to  martinneco." 
Luckily  for  the  inquirer  of  to-day.  Captain  James 
took  with  him  his  book  of  geometrical  and  nautical 
problems,  evidently  a  relic  of  his  prentice  days  at  sea, 
for  he  has  written  on  the  fly  leaf,  "  Begun  Octob  the 
24th  1719."  The  Httle  volume  is  chiefly  concerned 


The  Shipping  Trade       237 

with  "Navigation,  an  art  by  which  the  Industrious 
marriner  Is  Enabled  to  Conduct  a  Ship  the  Shortest 
&  Safest  way  between  any  two  assigned  places," 
and  to  assure  that  desirable  end  there  are  carefully 
worked-out  problems  in  "Plain  Sailing,"  in  "Com- 
pound Courses,"  and  in  "  Parallel  Sailing." 

The  last  ten  pages  have  preserved  for  us  the  log 
of  the  Truth  and  Delight.  We  find  the  customary 
record  of  wind  and  weather.  On  March  4,  "  verey 
Blustering  wether  with  rain"  covered  the  decks  with 
twelve  inches  of  water,  and  stove  in  the  hogsheads 
placed  there.  On  March  14,  Fort  Royal  in  Martinico 
was  reached,  and  until  May  31,  the  Truth  and  Delight 
lay  in  port,  unloading  her  cargo  of  eleven  horses, 
fifteen  hogsheads  of  Indian  corn,  sixteen  hundred- 
weight of  tobacco,  seven  hundred  pounds  of  cheese, 
six  barrels  of  tar,  twelve  thousand,  six  hundred  feet 
of  boards,  and  twelve  thousand  shingles.  This  ac- 
complished, and  "a  Barril  of  rum  for  the  vessels 
youse"  purchased.  Captain  Brown  secured  a  return 
cargo  of  forty  hogsheads  of  molasses  and  sixteen 
hogsheads  of  rum,  and  "Sailed  oute  of  Martineco 
.  .  .  Bound  for  Roadisland  of  a  wensday  a  Bought 
5  in  the  afternoon"  of  May  31.  The  monotony  of 
the  ship's  log  on  the  home  voyage  is  broken  on  one 
occasion  by  the  record  of  "two  dolphin  caught  to 
day  Butt  have  no  Butter  to  et  with  them:  which  is 
verey  hard,"  the  Captain  adds.  By  June  ig,  the 
Truth  and  Delight  was  almost  at  Newport  Harbor: 


238  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

*'haid  the  Lastime  we  sounded  43  faddoms  .  .  . 
which  I  Jug  to  Be  in  Blok  island  Chanil,"  writes 
her  captain,  and  with  "a  good  Bres  at  S  W,"  the 
stanch  little  sloop  spread  her  white  wings  and  bore 
away  toward  home. 

From  this  time  Captain  James  appears  to  have 
given  up  following  the  sea  as  a  profession.  As  an 
investment,  he  continued  to  follow  with  keen  interest 
the  conditions  of  foreign  and  home  markets  until  his 
early  death,  in  1739.  Indeed,  the  demands  of  his 
trade  as  shopkeeper  would  seem  to  have  required 
much  time  and  sagacity,  —  both  as  buyer  and  seller. 
His  shop  offered  an  assortment  of  necessities  and 
luxuries  so  varied  as  to  be  positively  picturesque. 
Thither  his  neighbors  came  for  wheat,  flannel, 
brooms,  cotton-wool,  linen  cloth,  pepper,  flax,  boards 
(oak  and  other),  beef,  stockings,  twine,  dry  goods 
such  as  Osnaburgs,  silk,  crape,  garlits,  etc. ;  bottles, 
grindstones,  powder  and  shot,  and  more  frequently 
than  for  aught  else  —  rum,  molasses,  and  salt.  Good, 
pious  Elder  James's  account,  for  the  last  months  of 
his  upright  life,  ran  like  this :  — 


Nov.  22, 

173 1  father  is  du  to  gallon  rum 

0. 

7- 

0 

to  quarter  pound  powder 

0. 

I. 

4 

25 

to  Boshil  soke 

0. 

7. 

0 

dec.      8 

to  gallon  Rum 

0. 

7- 

0 

to  deto 

0. 

7. 

0 

Jan.      I 

to  deto  Andrew  had 

0. 

7- 

0 

28 

to  deto 

0. 

7- 

0 

febry  29 

to  gallon  rum  and  cheese 

0. 

13. 

5 

The  Shipping  Trade       239 

In  the  following  year  we  learn  that:  — 

Father  power  is  du  to  sundres  as  folloth 

firste  to  apair  of  stoklns 

to  two  yardes  and  hallf  garlik  at  4J". 

to  Cotton  woU  nicholis  had 

to  Cotton  woli  and  molasis  a  man  had  that 

Came  with  mosey 
to  timber,  making  &  setting  up  gates  &  other 

fence  in  the  nek 
to  the  youse  of  my  scow 
to  pd.  Samwell  Ladd  for  shuing  his  horse 
to  the  f rate  of  glas  &  Led  from  Boston 
to  Earthen  wair 
to  a  pair  stokins 
to  deto 

to  a  gallon  rum 
to  money 
to  3  Raks 
to  a  saith 
to  arum  Borges 

7.  17.  9 

—  while  on  the  opposite  page  Father  Power  is  duly 
credited  with  malt,  oakum,  and  fish,  amounting  to 

When  Colonel  Power  died  in  1734,  his  son-in-law 
mourned  his  loss  of  a  kind  friend  and  sagacious  ad- 
viser. His  will  testifies  to  the  good  feeling  existing 
between  the  two  men,  for  to  James  and  Hope  Brown 
are  left  two  "small  lots  of  land,"  one  on  the  east,  and 
one  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great  River.  The  other 
married  daughters  and  their  husbands  received  each 
one  "small  lot  of  land." 


£ 

J- 

d 

0. 

7- 

0 

0. 

10. 

0 

I. 

4- 

0 

0. 

14. 

0 

I. 

7. 

0 

0. 

2. 

6 

0. 

I. 

7 

0. 

5- 

0 

0. 

4- 

6 

0. 

12. 

6 

0. 

12. 

6 

0. 

6. 

6 

0. 

10. 

0 

0. 

6. 

0 

0. 

13- 

0 

0. 

I. 

8 

240  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  Colonel  lived  in  a  rather  more  sumptuous 
fashion  than  the  majority  of  his  neighbors.  His 
spacious  homestead  on  the  Towne  Street,  where  the 
Talma  Theatre  now  stands,  was  graced  with  the 
smiles  and  blushes  of  five  gay  girls,  and  must  have 
welcomed  many  a  jolly  party  within  the  "greate 
lower  room"  of  which  his  appraisers  tell  us.  His  was 
one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  first,  house  in  Providence 
to  be  provided  with  a  "dineing  room."  Among  the 
"dineing  room  furniture"  was  an  oval  table  of  a  size 
to  accommodate  fourteen  chairs  and  "a  Leather 
Cheair,"  doubtless  that  of  the  Colonel  himself.  And- 
irons, tongs,  and  fire-shovel  bear  authentic  witness 
to  the  capacious  fireplace,  whose  dimensions  outdid 
even  our  modern  standards  of  hospitality.  Next,  we 
must  fancy  a  *' Large  Lookeing  Glass,"  a  clock,  a 
glass-case  (presumably  a  corner  cupboard),  and  ta- 
ble plenishings  of  pewter,  for  the  most  part.  We  are 
told  that  the  "dineing  room"  provided  also  "Chafe- 
ing  Dishes,  3  Brass  skillets,  a  Brass  Kittle,  2  Punch 
boles  and  a  stone  Jugg  &  Cups." 

Among  the  neighbors  that  fancy  so  readily  pic- 
tures, gathered  about  the  Colonel's  hospitable  board, 
and  the  smoking  punch-bowl  which  served  as  centre- 
piece, let  us  single  out  Captain  James  Brown.  He 
and  his  wife's  father  doubtless  figured  the  profits  on 
many  an  invoice,  and  planned  the  course  of  many  a 
cruise  —  whether  to  Newfoundland,  New  York,  or 
the  West  Indies.    Another  son-in-law  of  Colonel 


Sign  of  "The  Bunch  of  Grapes  " 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  early  commercial  signs  of 
Providence,  and  dating  from  about  1760.  Now  in  the 
museum  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


c? 


6> 


KD 
O 


G\ 


The  Shipping  Trade       241 

Power's  was  also  a  frequent  visitor,  and  his  shrewd 
counsel  was  often  at  the  service  of  Captain  James. 
This  was  John  Stuart,  goldsmith,  whose  profession 
did  not  make  such  exhaustive  demands  on  his  time 
and  attention  but  that  he  was  able  to  give  a  share  of 
bodi  to  the  carrying-trade.  He  was  the  owner  of  a 
"sloope  and  the  appertinances  thereunto  belonging,'* 
and  must  have  been  an  appreciative  listener  to  the 
sea-yarns  exchanged  between  Colonel  Power  and 
Captain  James  Brown.  He  and  the  Captain  had  their 
own  little  personal  transactions,  probably  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  both  parties,  for  we  find  in  the  Captain's 
shop-ledger  charges  for  lamb,  tar,  broadcloth,  mo- 
hair, boards,  rum,  etc.,  and  finally  a  memorandum 
to  the  effect  that  there  will  be  due  to  John  Stuart  on 
the  last  of  the  following  November,  *'  if  he  Keeps  the 
Clock  in  order  as  in  time  past  he  hath,  the  Sum  often 
shillings." 

John  Stuart  had  a  clock  of  his  own  valued  at  no 
less  than  forty  pounds,  while  his  silver  watch  was 
estimated  at  twenty-five.  He  also  owned  a  violin, 
and  a  most  extraordinary  possession  it  must  have 
seemed  to  his  good  friends  and  neighbors.  His  gold- 
smith's trade  was  no  illusion,  although  we  can  hardly 
think  of  Providence  as  a  centre  for  the  manufacture 
of  jewelry  so  early  as  the  year  of  grace  1736.  How- 
ever tliat  may  be,  we  have  his  appraisers'  recorded 
testimony  to  the  effect  that  John  Stuart  left  gold- 
smith's tools  to  the  value  of  sixty  pounds,  and  also 


242  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

"one  Penney  Wt.  22  Grains  of  Gold:  21  oz.  10  Pwt., 
Silver,"  the  whole  coming  to  ;^30.  19.  8. 

Colonel  Power's  estate  likewise  included  a  sloop, 
The  Sparrow,  worth  one  hundred  pounds.  He  owned 
a  warehouse,  a  cooper's  shop,  a  cider-mill,  and  three 
stills ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  is  the  first 
mention  of  the  machinery  of  the  distiller's  trade,  on 
a  scale  to  furnish  more  than  personal  consumption, 
that  has  been  found  among  the  Providence  inven- 
tories. Colonel  Power  had  also  a  cheese-press,  four 
negro  slaves,  a  silver-hiked  sword,  an  ivory-headed 
cane,  decanters,  wine-glasses,  and  silver  plate.  In 
short,  all  the  requisite  household  furnishings  that 
became  a  "good  old  English  gentleman"  and  a 
merchant-adventurer. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  greater  portion  of  "  Father 
Power's"  bill  for  "sundres"  and  other  supplies  was 
paid  by  an  exchange  of  commodities,  or  services,  and 
the  statement  holds  good  respecting  the  majority 
of  the  customers  who  patronized  this  eighteenth- 
century  emporium.  In  1736,  Robert  Nixon  cancelled 
his  debt  for  rum,  coffee,  sugar,  rice,  and  pepper  by 
making  "nine  froks  ...  he  finding  thread  &  but- 
tons," for  three  shillings  each.  For  making  "a  pair 
of  trows's  &  finding  thread  &c.,"  this  accomplished 
tailor  was  paid  two  shillings  and  sixpence.  Even 
neighborly  courtesies,  whether  muscular  or  mechani- 
cal, were  exchanged  on  a  strictly  cash  basis.  The 
account  of  Shadrach  Kees  is  a  case  in  point.   Kees 


The  Shipping  Trade       243 

was  an  enterprising  townsman,  who  owned  a  sloop 
i^he  Humhird)  in  partnership  with  James  Brown 
and  Captain  Jabez  Bowen.  In  October,  1730,  The 
Htimbird,  Richard  Waterman,  master,  came  home 
with  a  cargo  of  flour,  from  a  voyage  to  New  York. 
In  November  of  that  year  James  Brown's  ledger 
reads :  — 

6.  10.  9 
Nov.  25  to  an  oar  and  rum  Shadrah  Keis  is  du 

for  o.     7.  3 

and  to  stoaring  of  a  Cabbil  and  .  .  . 

for  neir  a  yeir  o.     3.0 

to  his  sloope  Lieing  at  my  whorfe  o.  5.  o 
to  his  sloope  Lieing  at  my  whorfe 
after  he  Borte  my  parte  and  his 
going  onto  the  whorfe  with  Cartes  o.  10.  o 
Ct  to  the  aBove  sd  Keis  for  the  youse 
of  his  parte  of  the  sloope  humbord 
to  fecth  from  the  sloope  febbey 
[Phcebe]  ...  o.     5.  o 

and  to  deto  to  goin  to  Newporte       o.     5.  o 
and  to  the  youse  of  an  old  Cabbil  to 

mak  the  sloope  febbey  faste  with     o.     2.  o 

Buying  and  selling,  whether  over  the  counter,  or 
"as  per  invoice,"  by  no  means  exhausted  James 
Brown's  business  resources.  He  had  as  many  ways 
of  turning  an  honest  penny  as  the  traditional  "hired 
man"  could  have  invented  for  the  solution  of  a 
problem  in  practical  mechanics.  Brown  lent  money 
at  interest,  carried  on  a  slaughter-house  business, 
rented  either  horse  or  scow  as  occasion  served,  pro- 
vided quarters  for  storage,  and  drove  a  thriving  trade 


2  44  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

with  his  distillery,  —  not  to  mention  the  crowning 
venture  of  his  mercantile  career  in  sending  the  pio- 
neer slave-ship  from  the  port  of  Providence  to  the 
Guinea  Coast.  His  interests  in  the  shipping  trade 
were  more  important  than  all  his  other  pursuits  com- 
bined, and  assuredly  they  possess  far  more  interest 
for  us  of  to-day. 

We  watched  Captain  James  himself  sail  out  of 
Narragansett  Bay,  bound  for  Martinique,  in  1727.  No 
doubt  he  shared  in  many  a  West-Indian  venture  of 
which  there  is  no  record  before  the  year  1731,  when 
we  next  find  him  definitely  mentioned  in  connection 
with  a  voyage  to  the  Caribbees,  made  by  the  sloop 
Humhird,  under  Richard  Waterman.  Only  a  few 
years  more  have  slipped  by  when  we  find  *'  Brother 
Obadiah"  acting  as  captain  on  one  of  these  West- 
Indian  craft,  while  "  Brother  James"  is  giving  sailing 
orders,  and  figuring  on  expenses  and  profits.  Oba- 
diah Brown,  born  in  17 12,  was  number  eight  in 
a  family  of  ten  children.  There  was  a  diff^erence  of 
fourteen  years  between  him  and  "  Brother  James," 
the  oldest  of  that  goodly  assemblage  of  olive- 
branches.  A  warm  attachment  existed  between  the 
two.  On  James's  death,  at  the  early  age  of  forty- 
one,  it  was  Obadiah  who  acted  the  part  of  counsel- 
lor and  father  to  his  four  younger  sons,  the  oldest  of 
whom  was  but  ten  years,  and  the  youngest  seven 
months  old.  Obadiah  is  said  to  have  sailed  on  his 
first  cruise  in  1733,  in  the  sloop  Dolphin.  The  inval- 


The  Shipping  Trade       245 

uable  ledger  tells  us  that  he  was  at  sea  in  1 734,  for  he 

is  specifically  charged  for 

ospitel  money  for  his  voig  to  the  weste  indes 

S}/2  months  o.   13.  o 

To  his  parte  of  damlg  dun  a  squairsall  13.  o 

to  Cloath  mohair  and  Bottens  2.   16.  3 

Ct  to  sd  Obadiah  Brown  for  wagis  on  Bord 

the  sloope  marey  as  pr  portridg  Bill  5}^ 

months  at  £3  los.  £19.  05.  o 

In  the  spring  of  1735,  Obadiah,  then  a  young  man 
of  twenty-three,  sailed  again  for  the  West  Indies, 
with  a  cargo  of  horses,  flour,  and  tobacco.  On  March 
30  he  wrote  from  "St  Estasha,"  — 

Loving  Brother 

After  my  duty  to  Mother  and  Love  to  my  brothers 
and  Sister  and  all  my  friends  hoping  thes  will  find  you 
all  in  helth  as  I  am  at  this  present  —  I  have  ben  DIs- 
apolnted  of  my  expecttaclon  I  secured  no  molasses 
before  the  twenty  forth  of  this  month.  I  have  now 
fifty  hhds  onbord  at  five  stivers  pr  galond  but  I  hope 
to  git  the  rest  for  les  .  .  .  horses  and  tobaco  Is  In  good 
demand  .  .  . 

So  I  remain  your  loving  Brother 

Obadiah  Browne 

A  year  later  elaborate  preparations  were  making  in 
Providence  for  a  cruise  involving  far  greater  respon- 
sibilities. The  "Sloope  Mary,  John  Godfrey,  Mas- 
ter," was  fitting  for  a  voyage  of  nearly  twelve 
months'  duration  to  the  ill-famed  Guinea  Coast. 
Among  sundry  bills,  still  carefully  fastened  with  the 
round-headed  pins  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  the 


246  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

leaves  of  James  Brown's  "Ledger,"  is  the  account  of 
Thomas  Harding,  blacksmith,  for  "  ironwork  dun  for 
the  Genne  Slupe,"  in  the  spring  of  1736.  He  fur- 
nished an  extraordinary  assortment  of  spikes,  large 
and  small,  "a  Scuttle  bar  and  2  Stapels,"  weighing 
together  between  eight  and  nine  pounds,  "a  hach 
bar"  of  nine  pounds  weight,  and  lastly,  the  sinis- 
ter item,  "35  pare  of  handcoofs."  Nor  must  we  fail 
to  include  among  the  enumerated  preparations  the 
drum,  purchased  of  Elisha  Tillinghast  for  "Three 
pounds  Cash  .  .  .  To  Go  in  the  Marey  to  Ginne." 

In  the  absence  of  any  indication  to  the  contrary  we 
may  assume  that  the  Mary  was  loaded  with  the  usual 
cargo  of  rum,  an  article  always  in  demand  in  the 
African  market,  and  readily  procured  in  Providence, 
where  molasses  for  the  distilling  trade  was  imported 
as  early  as  1684.  James  Brown  himself  owned  two 
stills,  and  the  skill  of  Rhode-Island  distillers  was  such 
that  they  were  popularly  said  to  make  a  gallon  of 
rum  from  each  gallon  of  molasses  consigned  them. 
The  usual  proportion  was  ninety-six  gallons  of  rum 
for  one  hundred  of  molasses. 

Obadiah's  position  on  board  the  Mary  was  that  of 
*' factor,"  that  is,  the  management  of  sales  and  pur- 
chases was  in  his  hands.  He  had  a  one-eighth  interest 
in  the  sloop  and  her  cargo,  and  it  is  to  him  —  and  not 
to  Captain  Godfrey  —  that  James  writes  in  March, 
1737,  as  follows:  "Loveing  brother,  I  rec'd  yours 
dated  the  25th  of  November;  wherein  you  say  you 


The  Shipping  Trade       247 

[are]  come  to  a  poor  market."  Obadiah  was  by  no 
means  alone  in  this  account  of  the  conditions  prevail- 
ing on  the  slave  coast.  In  the  same  season  letters 
from  Newport  captains  declare  that  "there  never  was 
so  much  Rum  on  the  Coast  at  one  time  before  .  .  . 
slaves  is  very  scarce :  we  have  had  nineteen  sails  of  us 
at  one  time  in  the  Rhoad,  so  that  those  ships  that 
used  to  carry  pryme  slaves  off  is  now  forsed  to  take 
any  that  comes." 

Far  from  being  daunted  by  bad  news  of  the  mar- 
ket, James  philosophically  remarks,  — 

But  you  are  all  well,  which  is  good  news,  for  health 
in  this  world  is  better  than  welth,  you  wrote  Something 
Concerning  your  Mother,  these  may  informe  you  that 
She  died  about  two  Months  after  you  Saild,  and  I  hope 
She  is  now  more  happy  than  either  of  us  are  we  being 
burthened  with  this  world  and  She  at  rest  as  I  hope, 
after  this  I  would  tell  you  ...  by  all  means  make 
dispatch  In  your  business  if  you  cannot  Sell  all  your 
Slaves  to  your  mind  bring  some  home  I  belelve  they 
will  Sell  well,  gett  Molasses  if  you  can,  and  if  you 
Cannot  come  without  It,  leave  no  debts  behind  upon 
no  Account,  gett  some  Sugar  &  Cotten  if  you  Can 
handily,  but  be  Sure  make  dispatch  for  that  is  the  life 
of  trade 

James  Browne 

These  words  of  wisdom  and  counsel  were  sent  to 
meet  "Obadiah  Browne  Merchant"  at  the  West- 
Indian  market  whither  the  slaves  were  taken  for  sale, 
and  the  sloop  loaded  with  a  second  cargo  for  the 
Providence  trade.  They  were  acted  upon  with  that 


248  Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

ze^l  and  accuracy  which  marked  Obadiah's  business 
career.  By  the  twenty-sixth  of  the  following  May, 
James  Brown  was  offering  the  Marys  cargo  to  his 
customers  in  the  back  country,  in  these  terms :  ''  Sr. 
if  I  Remember  Rite  you  deziared  me  to  Right  you  a 
few  Lines  at  the  Arivol  of  my  Gineman.  theas  may 
informe  you  that  she  is  Arived  and  you  may  have  A 
slave  if  you  Cum  or  send  Befoar  they  are  Gon  I  have 
soke  plentey  if  you  want  and  sevoral  other  Sortes  of 
Goods  if  you  desaine  [design]  downe  you  Cannot  Be 
two  soon." 

In  a  statement  of  accounts,  dated  1737,  and  en- 
titled a  "Setdement  between  Obadiah  &  myself," 
signed  by  James  Brown,  there  is  set  down,  with  a 
careful  detail  and  great  precision,  sufficient  of  the 
minutiae  of  the  sloop  Marys  "present  Voyage  too 
&  from  Guenia"  to  enable  us  to  fill  up  the  remaining 
gaps  without  overtaxing  our  imagination.  Evidently 
the  rum  was  taken  to  Africa,  and  there  bartered  for 
negroes,  —  men,  women,  and  children.  The  slaves 
were  carried  to  the  West  Indies  and  sold,  while  the 
proceeds  were  invested  in  Jamaica  or  St.  Croix  rum, 
powder,  salt,  cordage,  guns,  coffee,  Osnaburgs,  and 
duck; — nor  must  we  omit  the  ''three  Slaves  that 
he  brought  home  being  ;^I20."  Obadiah  had  one- 
eighth  interest  in  profits  and  losses,  and  received  his 
wages  as  agreed  by  contract.  The  estimated  value  of 
the  cargo  finally  unloaded  at  the  wharf  of ''  Brother 
James"  is;^26oi.  16.  10. 


The  Shipping  Trade       249 

Figures  speak  for  themselves,  even  if  they  occa- 
sionally speak  for  those  who  figure,  and  in  the  face 
of  the  above-mentioned  estimate,  we  cannot  wonder 
that  the  old  sea-captain  sent  out  his  promising 
brother  in  the  following  year  as  "  Master  of  the  Sloop 
Rainbow,"  a  vessel  of  eighty  tons  burden,  built  for 
James  Brown  by  Roger  Kinnicutt,  at  his  shipyard  on 
the  West  Side  of  the  Great  River,  a  little  east  of  the 
present  Dorrance  Street. 

On  a  mild  winter's  day  in  February,  1738,  Captain 
Obadiah  dropped  down  Providence  River,  under 
orders  running  somewhat  as  follows:  "  i.ly  to  make 
what  dispatch  possable  you  can  to  Newport,  and 
there  take  of  George  Gibbs  your  bread  for  your 
Voiage  and  gett  some  hay  and  other  Materials  for  the 
Voiage,  and  then  make  the  best  of  your  way  to  Bar- 
badoes  —  Speak  with  no  Vessell  on  your  passage  if 
you  can  help  it;  when  you  are  Arrived,  do  with  your 
Cargoe  as  you  think  will  be  most  to  my  Advantage, 
if  you  think  best  Sell  there,  and  if  not  goe  Else  where, 
be  Sure  to  Keep  your  Selfe  in  your  right  mind  if 
possable,  if  any  Misfortune  Attend  you  lay  it  not  to 
heart,  but  Consider  that  there  is  a  higher  power  that 
Governs  all  things,  and  if  you  are  likely  to  meet  with 
good  fortune  consider  the  same:  and  possably  those 
two  thoughts  may  keep  you  in  a  medium  as  all  men 
ought  to  be :  you  must  not  charge  me  but  five  pr  Cent 
Sales  &  two  &  halfe  Returns,"  continues  the  worthy 
elder  brother,  dropping  his  role  of  mentor  somewhat 


250  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

summarily;  "you  must  bring  me  an  Accompt  how 
you  Sell  each  Article  too  and  for  how  much."  And 
he  comes  to  the  gratifying  conclusion  that  "in  doing 
as  near  as  possable  you  can  to  my  directions  I  make 
no  doubt  but  the  heavens  will  bless  you  in  your  pro- 
ceedings." 

A  month  later  the  Rainhow's  captain  sent  word 
from  St.  Eustatius  that  he  had  sold  "nothing  but  my 
Candels  and  them  at  a  very  low  rate,"  and  that,  in 
his  dissatisfaction  with  the  state  of  the  market,  he  had 
"a  Design  to  try  for  Martinnecko,"  where  the  recent 
destruction  of  "the  town  at  St  peairs"  by  fire  had 
created  a  great  demand  for  lumber.  Obadiah  had 
laid  his  hands  on  all  that  was  available,  nearly  thirty 
thousand  feet.  "If  I  Stay  hear,"  he  writes,  "or  at 
any  of  the  Inglish  Islands  I  shall  not  do  that  as  You 
Sent  me  for:  that  is  to  gett  Money":  and  a  few  lines 
further  on,  —  "  it  is  thought  that  the  french  trade  will 
soon  be  opened.  I  shall  taek  as  much  Cair  of  your 
Bisines  as  Posibel  I  can  and  if  I  Dont  light  of  no  mis- 
fortin  I  shall  make  you  a  good  voige;  for  I  have  a 
good  prospect  at  present,  but  you  have  all  ways  had 
Misfortin  in  this  Vessel  which  Maeks  me  afraid,  but 
...  If  I  Should  never  Venter  nothing  I  Should 
never  have  nothing." 

In  view  of  these  sentiments,  and  of  the  lumber 
market  awaiting  him  at  Martinique,  we  are  not  sur- 
prised that  the  young  skipper  did  not  wait  for  the 
French  trade  to  be  opened  by  decree  or  by  interna- 


The  Shipping  Trade       2  5 1 

tional  agreement,  but,  having  satisfied  himself  by 
personal  arrangement  with  the  authorities  there  of 
the  security  of  his  vessel,  announced  in  a  postscript 
that  he  was  "a  going  to  Marteneck  to  load."  Inci- 
dentally he  mentions  the  presence  of  several  Pro- 
vidence captains  in  his  vicinity.  Christopher  Smith 
was  at  St.  Martin's,  John  Crawford  and  John  Field 
at  Antigua,  Sam  Gorton  at  St.  Kitt's.  These  young 
sea-dogs  are  all  entered  in  James  Brown's  ledgers  as 
"du"  to  rum,  molasses,  salt,  and  other  staple  com- 
modities. 

Christopher  Smith  was  not  improbably  at  this  time 
disposing  of  a  cargo  representing  James  Brown's 
interests  as  well  as  his  own.  The  statement  of  his 
voyage  to  "the  weste  indes"  in  1733  is  duly  entered 
on  the  ledger,  and  shows  his  proportion  of  responsi- 
bility for  ship  supplies,  wear  and  tear,  and  hospital 
money,  —  as  also  that  he  delivered  in  part  payment 
thereof  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty-five  pounds  of 
tobacco. 

Captain  John  Field  died  at  St.  Eustatius,  precisely 
one  month  from  the  date  ofObadiah's  letter.  In  1736 
he  had  taken  the  Rainbow  to  Surinam  for  James 
Brown,  on  her  maiden  voyage.  When  ashore  he 
patronized  the  shop,  buying  rum,  board-nails, 
writing-paper,  sugar,  garlits,  and  arumborges,  as 
well  as  hay,  oats,  and  a  "holtor  to  fit  out  his  horse." 
His  personal  possessions  included  8185^  gallons  of 
molasses,  434  gallons  of  rum,  "4  Pistols  of  Gold," 


252  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

and  a  quarter  interest  in  the  sloop  MerigoU,  —  a 
name  pleasantly  suggesting  the  well-known  flower, 
marigold,  but  in  reality  a  colloquial  corruption  of 
Mary  Gould. 

Sam  Gorton,  too,  appears  in  James  Brown's  books 
in  1736,  as  master  of  the  schooner  Jnriy  the  first 
instance  noted  of  a  vessel  larger  than  a  sloop  hailing 
from  Providence.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  if 
Obadiah's  luck  at  Martinique  broke  the  charm  of 
"misfortin"  which  appeared  to  attend  the  Rainbow. 
Her  maiden  trip  to  Surinam,  with  John  Field  as 
master,  was  marred  by  the  loss  of  part  of  her  return 
cargo  of  molasses. 

Before  sending  her  out  again,  James  Brown  sold 
one-eighth  interest  in  her  to  Captain  Abraham  An- 
gell.  A  cargo  was  then  shipped  to  St.  Eustatius,with 
Captain  Angell  as  master  of  the  vessel.  But  once  in 
the  West  Indies,  the  attractions  of  that  balmy  clime 
proved  so  potent  that  the  Rhode-Islander  lingered, 
regardless  of  that  ''dispatch  which  is  the  life  of 
trade."  He  dallied  so  long  as  completely  to  exhaust 
the  patience  of  his  partner  and  employer,  and  to 
bring  down  upon  himself  a  burst  of  righteous  indig- 
nation. "I  would  have  you  Cum  directly  home  upon 
site  heirof  with  what  you  Can  Gett  and  Wate  no 
Longer  on  aney  accounte,"  wrote  James  Brown. 
Not  only  were  his  words  to  the  point,  but  they  were 
reinforced  with  all  the  majesty  of  the  law.  By  the 
same  ship  a  letter  to  his  correspondent  in  St.  Eustatius 


The  Shipping  Trade      253 

carried  with  it  a  power-of-attorney,  and  succinct 
directions  to  the  effect  that  if  Captain  Angell  would 
not  listen  to  reason  he  should  be  called  "to  ann 
a  Counte  and  put  in  his  mate  .  .  .  master  and  send 
the  vesil  directly  home."  This  was  done,  and  a  voy- 
age to  Barbadoes  intervened  before  the  Rainbow 
carried  Obadiah  to  the  Spanish  Main.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent that  her  reputation  was  none  of  the  best.  Her 
owner  refers  to  her  as  "the  unlokey  sloope,"  but  does 
not  appear  inclined  to  take  many  chances  on  her 
market  value,  since  he  forthwith  states  "the  price  of 
her  as  she  Cums  now  in  "  at  fourteen  hundred  pounds. 
The  last  of  Obadiah's  sea-letters  was  written  at 
Surinam,  in  June,  1739,  two  months  and  more  after 
the  death  of  the  "loveing  Brother"  to  whom  it  was 
addressed.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this  was  Oba- 
diah's last  voyage.  His  business  interests  at  Provi- 
dence were  already  far  from  inconsiderable,  and  to 
the  care  of  his  own  wife  and  child  was  now  added 
that  of  his  brother's  fatherless  sons.  From  this  date 
we  may  think  of  him  snugly  ensconced  in  his  home 
on  the  Towne  Street,  a  little  north  of  the  "  Parade," 
as  our  Market  Square  was  already  styled.  The  career 
of  ship-master  passed  in  appropriate  succession  to  his 
nephew  James,  the  oldest  of  his  brother's  five  boys, 
and  a  lad  of  fifteen  in  1739,  at  the  time  of  his  father's 
death.  If  we  may  be  guided  by  our  newly  acquired 
experience  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Brown  family, 
we  shall  be  justified  in  putting  the  younger  James 


2  54  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

afloat  almost  as  soon  as  he  enters  the  foreground  of 
this  nautical  sketch.  We  know  that  he  was  in  com- 
mand of  his  own  sloop  in  1748. 

There  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  John  Carter  Brown 
Library  the  atlas  which  James  Brown  "Bought  in 
Boston  .  .  .  pris  ;^io.  10."  This  valuable  addition 
to  the  ship's  furniture  is  in  reality  the  fourth  volume 
of  a  London  publication  entitled,  The  English  Pilot 
.  .  .  Describing  The  West  India  Navigation,  from 
Hudson's  Bay  to  the  River  Amazon,  showing  a 
breadth  of  geographical  definition  worthy  of  the  great 
Columbus  himself.  Probably  it  accompanied  its 
owner  on  the  tempestuous  coasting-trip  he  has 
described  for  the  edification  of  his  brother,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  y^^  Nicholas  Brown 

Distiller  in 

Providence 

Rhoad  island 

and  dated  from  Newbern,  North  Carolina,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1749:— 

We  have  under  gon  many  hardships  and  Dificulties 
Which  I  shall  give  you  a  few  of  the  Perticulers  But  to 
Whrlte  the  Whole  It  Would  take  a  quire  of  Paper.  I 
had  a  Passage  of  thirty  one  days  ...  I  Lay  two  Part 
of  twenty  four  days  With  Such  Gales  of  Wind  that  It 
Is  Impossibel  to  Exspres  Beat  and  toar  my  Sails  and 
Riging  more  than  I  should  have  Dun  In  Six  months 
moderate  Wether,  the  Vessel  Sprung  A  Leak  the  sec- 
ond Night  after  I  came  out  and  Continewed  the  Whole 
Passage  So  that  Wee  had  a  smart  Spel  at  a  pump  Every 
half   hour  .  .  .  there  Is  Vessels  hear  that  have  had 


The  Shipping  Trade      255 

30-35  and  40  and  45  Days  Passage  and  Vessels  are 
Lucked  for  that  have  Been  out  of  Boston  and  York 
six  and  seven  Weeks;  .  .  .  markets  Are  Very  Bad  So 
that  our  Goods  Will  Not  fetch  the  firs  Cost  and  theirs 
dearer  and  scarcer  than  Ever  they  Was  Known.  .  .  . 
Remember  my  harty  and  obedient  Respect  to  my  dear 
mother  Brothers  and  Sister  Likewise  to  Unkel  Ellsha. 

In  September  of  the  following  year  Captain  James 
Brown  left  Providence  in  "the  good  Sloop  Freelove" 
for  Maryland,  with  a  cargo  of  rum,  molasses,  sugar, 
salt,  pork,  beef,  etc.,  on  account  and  risk  of  "Oba- 
dlah  Brown  and  Company."  It  proved  to  be  his  last 
voyage.  He  died  in  York,  Virginia,  on  the  fifteenth 
of  the  following  February. 

Obadiah  Brown  and  Company  appeared  among 
the  shopkeepers  of  Providence  in  1750.  The  goods 
which  stocked  their  well-filled  shelves  were  brought 
from  London  in  the  good  ship  Smithfield,  and  the 
filial  affection  of  nephew  Moses  led  him  to  preserve 
his  uncle's  invoice  "as  the  Beginning  of  his  Shop 
Keeping."  It  fills  three  closely  written  folio  pages. 
With  the  advent  of  this  well-known  firm  we  come  to 
a  time  when  the  economic  atmosphere  of  Providence 
had  become  fairly  well  permeated  with  an  enlivening 
sense  of  the  advantages  of  the  shipping-trade. 

Obadiah's  "Loveing  Brother"  James  was  obliged 
to  face  several  competitors  during  the  latter  years  of 
his  business  career.  In  the  forties,  a  more  varied 
stock  in  trade  was  offered  to  the  Providence  public. 
In  1 741,  Stephen  Dexter 's  estate  consisted  in  large 


256  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

part  of  an  interesting  assortment  of  shop-goods.  The 
local  demand  for  books  was  met  by  "2  salters  and 
3  Primmers,"  and  three  Testaments.  Besides  the 
standard  woollens  and  linens  we  find  gloves,  garters, 
ribbon,  bobbin,  pins,  "10  paier  of  specttacles," 
handkerchiefs,  knitting-needles,  scissors  and  shears, 
ink-cases  and  writing-paper,  as  well  as  padlocks, 
"Thum  Latches,"  brimstone,  alum,  copperas,  all- 
spice, nails  of  varied  sizes,  rice,  and  fishhooks. 
Stephen  Dexter  should  awaken  the  interest  of  the 
good  people  of  Providence  for  other  than  purely 
commercial  reasons.  He  married  the  daughter  of 
Ebenezer  Knight,  also  a  thriving  shopkeeper,  on  the 
West  Side  of  the  Great  River.  It  was  in  Ebenezer's 
"Calashe"  that  the  Reverend  Eleazer  Wheelock  was 
privileged  to  enter  the  unregenerate  town  of  Provi- 
dence in  that  year  of  theological  unrest,  1741.  From 
the  union  of  the  Knight  and  Dexter  families  was 
descended  that  somewhat  eccentric  philanthropist, 
Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter,  whose  sayings  and  doings 
enlivened  many  a  neighborly  chat  for  a  later  gener- 
ation. 

As  a  rule,  and  perhaps  as  a  matter  of  course,  the 
families  of  those  men  who  followed  the  sea  lived  in 
a  more  comfortable  way,  and  were  provided  more 
generously  with  articles  of  display  and  luxury,  than 
was  the  family  of  the  average  husbandman  or  me- 
chanic. The  captain  of  a  sailing-vessel,  or  even  the 
less  pretentious  person  described  as  "mariner,"  could 


The  Shipping  Trade      257 

almost  invariably  show  a  greater  supply  of  household 
furniture,  and  that  of  better  quality,  than  would  be 
found  in  the  homes  of  his  neighbors  whose  ideas,  as 
well  as  their  several  callings,  were  purely  local  in 
scope.  In  the  later  thirties  of  the  eighteenth  century 
we  find  tables  distinguished  as  square,  oval,  and 
round.  "High-back"  chairs  appear.  One  well-to-do 
"mariner"  left  a  "Cannisterof  Tea"of  one  pound, 
ten  shillings  value,  and  two  "flowered  Bottles." 
Four  years  later  we  find  that  ancient  mariner.  Cap- 
tain Abraham  Angell,  of  the  Rainbow,  possessed  of 
"Chinia  Tea  Cups  and  Plates,"  and  a  large  assort- 
ment of  "Chinia  Punch  Bowls."  In  the  adjoining 
cupboard  were  ten  silver  spoons,  glass  beakers  and 
wineglasses,  and  a  teapot.  His  well-stocked  kitchen- 
closet  could  also  boast  two  "Coffe  mills."  A  neigh- 
bor's sideboard  was  resplendent  with  "six  Tea 
spoones&  Tongs  &  strainer."  These,  together  with 
"2  Large  silver  spoones,"  were  estimated  at  £c),  and 
their  owner  was  likewise  the  proud  proprietor  of  a 
tea-kettle. 

With  the  forties  another  family  noted  in  the  annals 
of  the  merchant-marine  of  Providence  comes  to  the 
front.  Stephen  Hopkins  was  interested  in  "ven- 
tures" on  the  high  seas,  and  held  shares  in  vessels 
both  here  and  in  Newport  before  he  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Providence.  In  1735,  he  with  four  other 
owners  sent  "the  good  Sloop  called  John  "  to  Bar- 
badoes  "or  Else  where,"  with  a  cargo  of  horses, 


2  5  8  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

boards,  shingles,  hoops,  staves,  water  hogsheads, 
beef,  pickled  fish,  tallow,  and  four  pigs.  Stephen's 
brother,  John  Hopkins,  was  master  of  the  vessel  and 
her  assorted  cargo,  with  which  he  was  to  do  as  he 
should  "Think  fitt  for  the  best  advantage  of  the 
Owners." 

In  1737,  Stephen  was  judiciously  investing  in  the 
West-Indian  market  through  the  agency  of  Captain 
James  Brown,  who  was  buying  and  selling  molasses 
on  account  and  risk  of  S.  Hopkins.  Of  his  five  sons, 
four  were  sailors,  and  three  of  the  four  lost  their  lives 
amid  the  perils  of  the  deep.  Rufus,  the  Judge  Hop- 
kins of  later  years,  was  a  sea-captain  of  the  fifties. 
John  sickened  of  smallpox  in  Spain,  while  cruising 
from  one  port  to  another  with  whatever  cargo  of 
freight  was  nearest  at  hand.  He  died  there  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four,  and  his  body  was  refused  Christian 
burial  as  being  that  of  a  heretic,  without  the  pale  of 
the  Church. 

Silvanus  was  cast  away  on  the  Nova  Scotia  coast, 
and  murdered  by  Indians.  George,  the  youngest  of 
the  family,  has  left  us  an  account  of  his  experiences 
when  —  a  boy  of  nineteen  —  he  accompanied  his 
uncle  Esek,  then  in  command  of  the  brigantine 
Providence,  on  a  privateering  expedition  to  the  South 
Seas.  In  January,  1758,  George  wrote  from  Jamaica 
to  his  friend  Moses  Brown  in  Providence.  Moses 
was  the  elder  of  the  two  by  three  years.  He  had  no 
small  share  of  that  business  sagacity  so  prominent  in 


Portrait  of  Moses  Brown 

Reproduced    from    an    engraving   after  a  drawing  by 
William  J.  Harris. 


.8mjiH  J  rriKllliV/ 


The  Shipping  Trade      259 

his  brothers,  and  was  at  this  particular  time  inter- 
ested in  a  "venture"  to  the  West  Indies  in  partner- 
ship with  his  cousin,  Jonathan  Clarke,  Junior,  of 
Newport. 

George  Hopkins's  letter  informs  his  friend  that  he 
is  "With  Capt  Hopkins  in  a  Prize  that  We  and  Capt 
Miller  and  Two  other  N.  York  Privateers  Took  the 
24  December  of  Porte  Plate."  He  tells  with  boyish 
exultation  of  the  engagement,  "Wich  Lasted  all 
Most  Seven  Hours,"  and  reports  the  prize  to  be  of 
558  tons  burden,  "Mounts  Eighteen  Six  Pounders 
and  Had  Seventy  Men,  is  Loaded  with  3500  Barrls. 
Floure  800  Ankers  Brandy  and  a  Small  Quantity  of 
Dry  Goods  Bound  from  France  to  the  Cape,"  — 
namely.  Cape  Francois.  Two  months  later,  news  is 
sent  of  the  capture  of  a  Dutch  sloop,  "and  Retook  a 
Schooner  from  Virginia  Loaded  with  Pork." 

The  next  report  comes  from  the  pen  of  the  pugna- 
cious and  outspoken  Abraham  Whipple,  well  known 
to  Revolutionary  fame,  who  was  serving  in  the  New- 
port privateer  Defiance.  The  Dutch  sloop  is  sent  to 
Providence,  together  with  her  cargo  of  "  Shugar  and 
Coffe,"  and  here  Whipple  interrupts  his  enumeration 
of  nautical  adventures  to  send  his  "  Complements  to 
all  the  Ladys,"  and  to  announce  his  own  determin- 
ation "to  Marry,"  on  his  return  home.  "George 
Hopkins  is  in  grate  Distress  About  his  Lady,"  con- 
tinues Whipple;  and  we  pause  to  remember  that 
George's  obdurate   "lady"  must  be  the   "Coson 


2  6o  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Polly"  for  whom  letters  and  messages  are  sent  to 
Moses  from  Monte  Cristo  and  Hispaniola.  Moses's 
Cousin  Polly  was  the  daughter  of  his  Uncle  Obadiah. 
Although  Captain  Whipple  gives  no  reasons  for  his 
stated  belief  that  George  is  "  Most  Damnable  taken 
in  With  her,"  it  is  evident  that  there  was  a  rift  some- 
where within  the  lute,  for  the  lady  in  question  mar- 
ried Jabez  Bowen,  in  1762. 

George  Hopkins  remained  single  —  let  us  say  for 
her  sweet  sake  —  during  sixteen  years.  In  March, 
1773,  he  married  Ruth  Smith,  a  daughter  of  his 
father's  second  wife  by  her  first  husband,  Benjamin 
Smith.  Hopkins  continued  a  sea-captain  in  the  serv- 
ice of  the  Browns  until  his  tragic  death,  in  1775. 
His  vessel  touched  at  Charleston  on  her  way  home 
from  Surinam,  in  August,  1775,  and  was  never  heard 
from  after  leaving  that  port.  In  the  light  of  these 
events,  a  pathetic  interest  is  attached  to  the  letter 
sent  by  the  aged  Governor  Hopkins,  while  in  Phila- 
delphia as  a  delgate  to  the  Continental  Congress  of 
1775,  to  his  son  George's  wife,  in  Providence.  He 
wrote :  — 

Beloved  Ruth, 

I  .  .  .  gave  you  an  account  of  our  journey  hither. 
Since  then  I  have  had  an  ill  turn  .  .  .  but  am  now 
well.  Your  mother  has  not  been  well  for  several  days 
and  is  now  quite  poorly.  I  hope  she  will  soon  be  better. 
George,  I  expect  to  have  seen  here  but  believe  he  has 
gone  to  South  Carolina.  ...  I  can  give  no  guess  yet 
when  we  shall  leave  this  place,  certainly  not  very  soon, 


The  Shipping  Trade      2  6 1 

unless  we  adjourn  to  the  Northward.  .  .  .  Give  my 
love  to  all  parts  of  the  family,  and  respects  to  all  who 
may  ask  after  me.  Should  be  glad  to  hear  from  you, 
and  remain  your 

Affectionate  Father 

Stephen  Hopkins. 

Many  a  sad  moment  must  have  been  given  to  the 
futile  wish  that  George  had  gone  to  Philadelphia  as 
expected ;  and  the  weary  question  of  a  possible  safe 
return  from  the  South  Carolina  port  must  have  often 
risen  to  the  lips  of  the  anxious  watchers  in  Provi- 
dence. When,  ten  years  later,  the  Governor  died, 
old  in  years  and  honors,  he  left  to  Ruth  Hopkins, 
"widow  of  my  son  George  Hopkins,  One  Thousand 
Dollars  in  Silver,  being  Money  which  belonged  to 
him  and  which  he  Ordered  that  she  should  have." 
As  for  the  other  ardent  mariner  whom  we  met  in 
the  West  Indies,  —  the  doughty  Captain  Abraham 
Whipple,  —  we  have  to  relate  that,  notwithstanding 
his  gallant  resolutions,  it  was  three  years  after  record- 
ing his  determination  to  marry  before  he  became 
the  husband  of  Sarah  Hopkins,  a  cousin  of  Captain 
George. 

This  digression  in  the  interest  of  weddings  and 
relationships  has  taken  us  far  from  the  "Brigatine 
Providence  at  the  West  Caicos,"  on  board  which,  in 
the  April  of  1758,  George  was  despatching  a  missive 
to  Moses  Brown  by  the  "Prizemaster  of  a  small 
Duns  [Danes]  Sloop  Which  wee  Took  aBout  Ten 
days  ago  which  I  Beleave  Will  be  a  Prize  if  the  Devel 


2  62   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

ant  in  the  Judges."  Evidently  his  Majesty's  Court 
of  Vice-Admiralty  could  not  be  implicitly  trusted 
to  condemn  the  property  of  neutrals.  A  postscript 
says:  "Please  to  Deliver  the  Inclosd  to  your  Coson 
Polly  with  safety."  Can  we  doubt  that  Moses  ful- 
filled the  request  with  discretion  and  tact? 

Besides  these  stirring  tales  of  war's  alarms,  Moses 
received  a  letter  from  Cousin  Jonathan  Clarke, 
written  from  the  observer's  rather  than  the  warrior's 
point  of  view,  and  illuminating  for  us  certain  genial 
aspects  of  Moses'  character  and  habits,  which  have 
been  lost  to  sight  amid  the  philanthropic  and  didactic 
enterprises  of  his  later  years.  Says  the  candid  Jona- 
than, *'  I  am  among  a  parcel  of  Romish  Savages,  As 
I  may  Call  'Em  with  safety  —  ...  they  are  a  Com- 
pound of  the  greatest  knavery  in  Life.  .  .  .  They 
would  think  no  more  of  Robbing  a  Man  of  his  teeth 
.  .  .  Then  you  would  to  Drink  a  Draught  of  Punch 
if  you  were  Dry,  or  kiss  a  Pretty  girl  if  you  had  op- 
portunity. .  .  .  This  Place  has  been  Settled  About 
six  years  [he  writes  from  Monte  Cristo] .  There  houses 
are  built  of  Cabage  trees.  They  have  a  Church,  A 
Goal,  Six  pieces  of  Cannon  for  to  Guard  the  Town, 
wherein  there  is  About  fifty  Houses.  About  one 
Dozn  Chairs  in  the  place  to  sit  in.  They  ride  on  Jack 
Asses  for  the  most  part  with  a  saddle  made  of  Straw." 

In  May,  George  Hopkins  writes  from  the  "North 
Side  of  Highspanola"  to  report  the  capture  of  a 
"French    Billinder   [a    two-masted    vessel,   distin- 


The  Shipping  Trade      263 

guished  by  the  trapezoidal  shape  of  the  mainsail] 
Who  Wee  Took  Neare  Cape  Francis.  We  are  Now 
Bound  to  Windward,"  he  says, "  To  Pass  away  about 
Two  months  then  I  Deleave  Wee  Shall  Come  Home, 
to  Sheare  Our  Prize  Money,"  —  and  this  he  esti- 
mates at  not  less  than  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
And  with  "Complements  to  your  Coson  Polly,  and 
all  the  Gentn.  &  Ladies,"  the  letter  was  sealed,  and 
the  good  ship  bore  to  windward. 

In  this  same  spring  of  1758  a  brother  of  George 
Hopkins  was  undergoing  an  experience  of  the  seamy 
side  of  privateering.  Captain  Rufus  Hopkins,  of  the 
snow  Desire^  the  oldest  of  Stephen's  five  sons,  was 
taken  by  two  French  privateers  as  he  "saild  out  of 
the  River  of  Surinam,"  with  a  cargo  of  "  One  Hun- 
dred and  Eighty  Nine  Hogsheads  and  Eight  Tearses 
of  Mollasses  Containing  19040  Gallons  Net."  He 
and  the  Desire  were  sent  to  Martinique,  but  while 
on  the  way  thither  were  retaken  by  the  Britannia 
of  Philadelphia,  and  sent  as  a  prize  to  that  port. 
Messrs.  Tench  Francis  and  Son,  the  Philadelphia 
correspondents  of  the  firm  of  Obadiah  Brown  and 
Company,  were  equal  to  the  occasion,  as  appears  by 
their  letter.  They  wrote :  "we  applyed  to  the  Owners 
of  the  Privateer,  and  informed  them  we  intended  to 
claim  her  [the  prize],  and  we  proposed,  to  avoid  the 
extortionate  Duty  of  6d.  Stl.  p  Gallon,  to  get  the 
Molasses  privately  on  Shore  and  sell  it,  which  they 
came  into.  The  Judge  of  the  Admiralty  being  luckily 


264   "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

out  of  town,  has  given  us  a  fair  Opportunity  to  our 
Scheme."  The  whole  cargo  was  thus  disposed  of  at 
two  shillings  fourpence  per  gallon.  The  ship  must 
unavoidably  be  sold  as  a  prize,  but  so  far  as  the 
cargo  was  concerned,  Messrs  Francis  felt  that  they 
had  ''Acted  in  this  Affair  as  we  would  have  done  for 
ourselves,"  and  indeed  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  it. 

Still  another  representative  of  the  Hopkins  family 
was  afloat  in  1758,  namely,  Captain  Christopher 
Hopkins,  of  the  privateer  Prince  George.  He  was  the 
son  of  William  Hopkins,  and  a  cousin  of  Stephen's 
two  boys  whose  varied  fortunes  have  just  passed  in 
review. 

These  years  of  the  Old  French  War  were  piping 
times  of  privateering,  and  recruits  for  this  branch  of 
his  Majesty's  service  were  never  lacking.  Memories 
of  rich  prizes  brought  into  Newport  during  the  Span- 
ish War  of  the  forties  were  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all 
our  leading  citizens.  In  1745  and  1746,  the  lucrative 
career  of  the  privateer  sloop  Reprisal  awakened  no 
little  excitement  in  Providence.  She  was  owned  by 
Henry  Paget  (the  son-in-law  of  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Checkley,  of  King's  Church),  Stephen  Hopkins, 
John  Mawney,  John  Andrews,  and  Christopher 
Lippitt,  *'all  of  Providence";  Jeremiah  Lippitt  and 
Joseph  Lippitt,  of  Warwick,  and  Eliphalet  Dyer,  of 
Windham,  Connecticut. 

In  1745  she  brought  in  a  brigantine  which  sold  at 
auction  for  £1^2^,  old  tenor.   In  the  following  year 


The  Shipping  Trade      265 

the  Reprisal  and  another  vessel  captured  the  Danish 
sloop,  Toung  Benjamin^  of  forty  tons  burden.  The 
sloop  was  "Bermuda  built,"  and  valued  at  ;^2500. 
Her  cargo  of  cocoa,  hides,  tallow,  rum,  and  some 
;^3200  in  gold  pistoles,  Spanish  dollars,  and  pieces  of 
eight,  amounted  to  ;^i 5,257.  The  owners  protested  in 
vain  that  they  were  citizens  of  a  neutral  state  (Den- 
mark), and  guiltless  of  carrying  aid  or  comfort  to  the 
declared  enemies  of  the  English  king. 

While  the  trade  of  the  "private  men  of  war"  could 
show  so  profitable  a  balance-sheet  as  this,  it  is  hardly 
strange  that  defenders  of  the  British  flag  in  the  serv- 
ice of  his  Majesty's  Navy  were  with  difficulty  ob- 
tained. Bitter  and  loud  were  the  complaints  of  Brit- 
ish commanders  anent  the  inefficiency  of  the  colonial 
recruiting-service,  and  drastic  indeed  were  their 
remedial  measures.  The  experience  of  John  Brown, 
number  three  of  the  "four  brothers,"  was  by  no 
means  unique.  He  was  on  board  the  sloop  Charming 
Molly,  as  she  made  her  way  up  the  Delaware  River, 
one  bright  morning  in  late  September,  1758,  when  the 
occurrence  took  place  which  he  records  in  his  Journal 
in  these  words:  "at  12  Came  by  a  20  Gun  Ship  Man 
of  War  below  Ridg  Island,  the  Man  of  Wars  boat 
Came  on  bord  and  pressed  Nathl  Smith  Notwith- 
standing all  Could  be  Yoused  to  bender  itt."  Even 
with  resources  such  as  this  at  command,  able-bodied 
seamen  were  so  hard  to  get  that  many  a  warship  put 
out  to  sea  short-handed.  In  the  privateering  service, 


2  66  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

however,  the  combination  of  possible  wealth  and 
certain  adventure  and  excitement  proved  an  allure- 
ment sufficiently  powerful  to  induce  almost  every 
young  man  of  enterprise  in  the  colony  to  ship  for  one 
or  more  voyages.  Not  improbably  Captain  Whip- 
ple's postponement  of  his  long-desired  wedding-day 
was  owing  to  the  fact  that  his  privateering  ventures 
did  not  allow  him  sufficient  time  ashore  to  complete 
the  necessary  preparations.  We  read  that  in  one  year 
alone  (1759-60)  this  dauntless  commander  captured 
twenty-three  prizes. 

Another  interesting  sea-captain,  privateersman, 
and  merchant  was  Esek  Hopkins,  the  younger 
brother  of  Stephen,  and  the  first  commander  of  the 
American  Navy.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  just 
when  young  Esek  Hopkins  left  his  father's  home  at 
Scituate.  He  must  have  made  an  early  start  in  life 
surely,  for  in  1741  we  find  him  already  identified  as 
of  Providence.  In  January  of  that  year  he  received  a 
letter  of  marque  as  captain  of  the  privateer  sloop 
Wentworth  of  ninety  tons  burden,  in  which  capacity 
he  was  authorized  to  "  subdue  seize  &  take  .  .  .  the 
men  of  war,  Ships  &  other  Vessels  .  .  .  belonging 
to  the  King  of  Spain." 

In  November  this  young  privateersman  of  twenty- 
three  was  back  in  Newport,  where  he  went  ashore 
long  enough  to  be  married  to  Mistress  Desire  Bur- 
rough,  of  that  pleasant  little  town.  The  following 
January  saw  him  once  more  on  board  the  Wentworth, 


The  Shipping  Trade      267 

and  not  improbably  the  tale  of  his  prowess  and  the 
resulting  prizes  would  rival  that  of  the  Reprisal, 
already  mentioned,  were  it  but  possible  to  lay  one's 
hands  upon  it. 

At  all  events,  by  the  time  the  Spanish  War  drew  to 
a  close,  Esek  Hopkins  was  in  possession  of  a  sum  of 
ready  money.  In  1747  he  is  to  be  found  taking  an 
active  part  in  the  real-estate  transactions  of  the  town 
of  Providence.  He  purchased  some  of  the  Field  land, 
a  little  south  of  theTowne  Wharf,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Towne  Street,  thus  securing  a  warehouse  lot,  and 
a  site  for  a  dwelling-house.  In  1750  he  was  fairly 
established,  and  keeping  store,  as  is  proved  by  his 
admirably  kept  book  of  accounts,  marked  ''Ledger 
A."  On  the  first  half-dozen  leaves  are  entered  pur- 
chases by  such  well-known  citizens  of  Providence 
as  Stephen  Hopkins,  Elisha  Brown,  George  Taylor, 
Daniel  Jenckes,  and  Ephraim  Bowen. 

The  future  commodore  supplied  his  customers 
with  tea,  "Dammask,"  sugar,  coffee,  molasses,  and 
rum,  of  course ;  sets  of  "  House  brushes,"  whalebone, 
"mozzelin,  brown  Holland,"  bed-tick,  and  "floward 
[flowered]  Sacques,"  as  well  as  spices  of  various 
sorts,  raisins,  and  starch.  Playing-cards  were  in 
great  demand.  His  is  the  first  shop  where  "child's 
toys"  find  a  place  among  the  items  of  the  bills  ren- 
dered. That  its  proprietor  prospered  in  well-doing  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  before  long  his  house  on  the 
Towne  Street  was  built,  and  in  1751  we  find  him 


2  68  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

paying  a  bill  oi  £()'].  6.  o  for  "painten  my  houss  the 
Inside."  This  house  occupied  the  present  site  of  the 
Providence  Institution  for  Savings,  on  South  Main 
Street.  The  business  of  shopkeeper  was  more  often 
than  not  combined  with  that  of  ship-owner  in  those 
days  of  all-round  men  of  affairs,  and  Esek  Hopkins 
added  to  these  callings  the  business  of  maritime  in- 
surance. Daniel  Jenckes  was  charged  three  per  cent 
for  insuring  the  schooner  Smithfield  for  five  hundred 
pounds.    Stephen  Hopkins  insured  the  snow  Two 
Brothers  on  the  same  terms.   Esek  was  himself  part 
owner  in  several  vessels,  and  willingly  received  from 
his  customers  the  flour,  rum,  tobacco,  and  molasses 
with  which  much  of  their  indebtedness  was  dis- 
charged, and  doubtless  loaded  the  sloop  T%vo  Sisters 
therewith  for  many  a  coasting- voyage.  But  with  the 
declaration  of  war  against  the  French  the  possibility 
of  rich  prizes  made  the  profits  of  the  coasting-trade 
seem  pitiably  small,  and  the  old  sea-captain  lost  no 
time  in  procuring  his  letter-of-marque  and  getting 
under  way. 

The  declaration  of  war  was  proclaimed  at  Provi- 
dence on  August  26,  1756.  On  January  30,  1757, 
amid  loud  cheers  of  excitement  and  exultation  from 
the  townspeople,  the  prize  snow  Desire  was  brought 
into  Providence  Harbor.  Her  cargo  of  dry  goods, 
earthenware,  oil,  butter,  wine,  salt,  tar,  nails,  bricks, 
iron,  tiles,  and  other  commodities  was  valued  at 
£78,000.    One  half  of  this  went  to  her  four  princi- 


Scene   in   a   Public   House   in    Surinam, 
ABOUT  1769 

After  a  painting  by  John  Greenwood,  reproduced  in 
Field's  Esek  Hopkins.  The  two  figures  on  the  further 
side  of  the  round  table  are  Nicholas  Cooke,  later  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony,  smoking  a  long  pipe  and  engaged  in 
conversation  with  Esek  Hopkins. 


The  Shipping  Trade      269 

pal  owners,  namely,  Nicholas  and  John  Brown,  Sim- 
eon Hunt,  and  Esek  Hopkins.  The  remainder  was 
"halved  down" ;  that  is  to  say,  the  next  largest  owner 
received  one  half  of  it,  and  the  remainder  was  again 
divided  in  the  same  way.  This  process  was  con- 
tinued until  a  thirty-second  part  of  the  cargo's  value 
was  arrived  at,  and  the  last  two  stockholders  divided 
that  equally.  Each  man  of  the  crew  received  £^S\' 
10.  10.  The  snow  was  put  up  at  auction,  and  sold  to 
Nicholas  Tillinghast  and  Company.  Two  years  later, 
with  Esek's  nephew,  Rufus  Hopkins,  on  board  as 
captain,  she  again  figured  in  a  prize-case  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  there,  too,  she  was  sold  "at  public 
Vendue." 

Scarcely  had  the  townspeople  ceased  to  haunt  the 
wharf  where  the  prize  lay,  and  to  quote  the  prices 
given  from  day  to  day  as  her  cargo  was  bid  in  slowly, 
when  another  capture  appeared,  and  one  of  such 
astounding  richness  that  the  Desire  was  well-nigh 
forgotten.  The  snow  ^even  Brothers^  loaded  with 
coffee,  sugar,  and  cotton,  to  the  value  of  ;^93,ooo  net, 
had  lowered  her  colors  to  the  gallant  Captain  Esek, 
who  brought  her  into  port  in  the  late  February  of 
1757.  Nicholas  and  John  Brown  were  appointed  by 
Judge  Lighifoot,  of  the  Court  of  Vice-Admiralty  at 
Newport,  to  act  as  agents  to  unload  and  take  charge 
of  the  cargo,  and  render  an  account  of  the  same. 
Each  man's  share  of  this  prize  came  to  £\^^.  14.  6. 
With  facts  such  as  these  fresh  in  their  minds  we  can 


270  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

well  understand  that  the  naval  service  of  Great  Britain 
would  offer  few  attractions  to  the  stalwart  seamen  of 
Narragansett  Bay.  The  captains  and  crews  of  the 
condemned  prizes  were  boarded  among  the  towns- 
people of  Providence,  or  furnished  with  accommo- 
dation at  one  of  the  inns.  Two  were  quartered  at  the 
inn  of  Luke  Thurston,  near  the  west  end  of  the  Great 
Bridge.  \\Tien  an  opportunity  offered,  they  were 
shipped  home  to  Antigua,  and  their  hotel-bills  were 
settled  by  the  colonial  treasurer,  no  doubt  under  the 
item  of  "military  disbursements." 

With  the  cessation  of  hostilities  in  1763  the  legal- 
ized pirate  became  once  more  an  avowed  outlaw. 
Many  of  the  colonial  privateers  were  readily  trans- 
formed into  normally  law-abiding  traders.  The 
qualifying  adverb  is,  however,  susceptible  of  a  broad 
interpretation,  for  "A  little  smuggling  now  and  then 
Was  relished  by  the  best  of  men."  An  especial  im- 
petus was  given  to  the  slave-trade  as  commerce  once 
more  resumed  the  beaten  paths  of  ocean  traffic. 
During  the  war  the  French  privateers  had  virtually 
driven  all  colonial  vessels  from  the  African  coast. 
In  January,  1759,  when  the  fortunes  of  the  French 
were  at  their  height,  Tench  Francis  writes  from 
Philadelphia  to  Obadiah  Brown  and  Company  that 
he  can  place  insurance  on  their  schooner  Wheel  of 
Fortune^  William  Earl,  master,  "to  the  Windward 
Coast  of  Africa  while  on  the  Coast  and  back  to  provi- 
dence," for  a  premium  of  twenty-five  per  cent.   In 


The  Shipping  Trade      2  7 1 

the  previous  year  (1758)  the  rate  had  been  eighteen 
per  cent. 

With  peace  the  old  conditions  were  restored,  and 
the  "Guineamen"  speedily  became  a  favorite  in- 
vestment. Foremost  among  the  many  who  hastened 
to  cultivate  this  profitable  field  of  industry  was  the 
firm  of  Nicholas  Brown  and  Company.  In  the  course 
of  a  long  business  letter  to  "Collector  Carter  Braxton 
In  Virginea  on  Pamunkey  River,"  written  in  the 
early  September  of  1763,  the  prospects  of  the  Provi- 
dence firm  are  touched  upon  as  follows:  "You  Men- 
tion of  being  Concernd  in  the  Guine  Trade  and  that 
the  Vessels  Return  with  the  negrows  to  your  place. 
As  We  Shall  be  Largely  Concernd  in  Navigation  this 
Fall  wich  will  bring  mello.  in  the  Spring  and  we 
Liveing  in  a  place  wair  we  Can  procure  a  Large 
Quantity  of  Rum  Distilled  Amediately,  its  Very 
Likely  if  it's  Agreeable  to  you  to  be  Concerned  that 
we  May  Fitt  a  proper  Vessill  for  Guiney  in  the 
Spring." 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  tobacco  as  well  as  rum  had 
proved  acceptable  on  the  slave-coast,  and  that  the 
Virginia  product  was  justly  prized  in  all  quarters  of 
the  globe,  Nicholas  then  asks  to  be  advised  whether 
his  correspondent  "Could  Send  a  Quantity  of  To- 
bacco Clear  of  Duty  by  our  Vessill,  if  it  Comes  to 
your  Address  this  Winter,  and  at  what  price";  — 
whereby  we  may  note,  in  passing,  the  advantage  of 
dealing  directly  with  the  Collector,  for  if  there  were 


272  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

ways  and  means  to  evade  the  export  tax,  we  may  rest 
assured  that  the  intelligent  Braxton  was  not  the  man 
to  be  caught  napping  on  so  important  an  official 
detail. 

No  record  has  thus  far  appeared  of  any  ship  sailing 
to  **Guiney"  on  account  and  risk  of  the  Brothers 
Brown,  in  the  spring  of  1764.  But  in  the  fall  of  that 
year,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  wrote  from  his 
Providence  counting-house  to  his  brothers,  John  and 
Moses,  then  at  Newport,  where  that  good  seaman, 
Esek  Hopkins,  was  busily  engaged  in  fitting  out  the 
brig  Sally  for  a  voyage  to  the  African  coast.  His 
letter  —  at  once  shrewd,  cautious,  diplomatic,  and 
with  a  keen  appreciation  for  detail  —  is  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  writer  that  it  is  worth  quoting  at  some 
length. 

Providence  Sepr.  12,  1764. 
Messrs.  Jos.  Jno.  &  M.  Brown 

Gentl. 

.  .  .  Jno.  Jenckes  asks  6/  for  his  Tobacco  perhaps  it 
might  be  got  of  the  Judge  at  less  [Jonathan  was  the 
writer's  brother-in-law  and  the  son  of  the  Judge],  tho' 
making  him  an  Offer  while  at  Newport  may  put  him  in 
Mind  of  selling  it  in  Newport  where  It's  much  wanted 
for  the  Guineamen.  .  .  .  Inquire  of  Malbone  whither 
there  Brigg  Caried  Any  Qy.  Onions  —  If  they  did  not 
it  may  be  worth  while  to  get  100  bshl.  more  at  Bristol. 
...  I  beleave  that  If  a  Stroke  was  put  In  the  Newport 
paper  Truly  giveing  a  State  of  the  Rum  Trade  upon 
the  Coast  of  Guinea  it  may  prevent  Menny  Vessels 
from  Pushing  that  way  this  fall,  this  Is  a  Subject 
worth  our  Attention,  a  Small  matter  as  2  dols.  will  get 


The  Shipping  Trade      273 

it  from  the  Newport  into  the  Boston  &  York  Papers, 
or  Phila. 

NicH.  Brown 

This  was  in  September.  With  the  middle  of  the 
following  May  came  news  of  Captain  Hopkins's 
whereabouts.  He  was  "up  the  River  gamby,"  and 
reported  "all  well  on  bord."  A  month  later,  however, 
Benjamin  Mason,  of  Newport,  an  old  correspondent 
of  the  Browns,  wrote  them  of  news  just  brought  by 
a  ship's  captain  who  was  "at  Basue  and  saw  Cap 
Hopkins  about  the  begining  of  march."  This  har- 
binger of  woe  announced  that  "Hopkins  had  Lost  all 
his  hands  &  had  sent  a  Craft  to  the  Goviner  of  Gam- 
bia for  Assistance  he  had  about  40  Slaves,"  to  which 
statement  the  Newport  letter-writer  added  a  word  of 
commentary:  "Basue  is  a  portugese  place,"  he  ex- 
plained, "and  they  are  not  AUowd  to  go  on  shore  or 
on  board  each  others  Vessels  without  paying  a  Great 
Custom,  wch  I  suppose  the  Reason  hopkins  did  not 
right  [write]." 

The  Newport  firm  of  Joseph  and  William  Wanton, 
whose  social,  political,  and  commercial  relations  with 
the  Browns  were  close  and  constant,  wrote  at  once  to 
offer  sympathy  and  such  consolation  as  the  nature  of 
the  case  might  admit:  "We  heartily  Condole  with 
you  on  the  bad  News  from  Hopkins,  had  he  pro- 
ceeded down  to  Anamaboe  it  would  have  been  no 
better  with  Regard  to  Trade,  there  was  the  26th 
April  17  Sail  there  of  Europeans  &Rum  men,  &  the 


2  74  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

latter  could  not  get  a  Slave  at  any  Price.  750  Hhds. 
Rum  in  the  Road  &  the  Castle  [i.e.,  trading-station] 
full  besides."  From  which  facts  it  would  seem  that 
the  newspaper  item  contemplated  by  Nicholas  had 
not  materially  affected  the  volume  of  business. 

It  appears  that  Rumor  viewed  Captain  Hopkins's 
brig  with  magnifying-glasses  of  abnormal  power; 
when  direct  news  of  the  ship  and  cargo  reached  her 
owners,  they  in  turn  wrote  to  our  old  friend,  Captain 
Abraham  Whipple,  then  at  Surinam;  "Capt.  Esek 
Hopkins  wass  in  the  River  Gambe  the  17th  May 
with  75  Slaves  on  bord.  he  had  been  Very  well  him 
Self  had  Lost  one  Man  &  Three  Others  Sick,  the 
Rest  all  well,  had  Sufferd  greatly  in  Leakage  of  his 
Cargo  haveing  upwards  of  20  hhd.  Rum  Out,  he 
wrote  he  wass  in  hopes  of  Sailing  off  the  Coast  in  2 
or  3  Months."  This  letter  was  written  in  the  last  days 
of  July,  when  news  of  the  brig  might  be  looked  for  at 
any  time.  Her  arrival  at  Antigua  concluded  the  tale 
of  bad  luck.  Many  negroes  were  lost  on  the  passage, 
and  such  as  reached  that  port  were  sold  at  low  prices 
in  a  dull  and  heavy  market. 

In  this  instance,  as  in  that  of  the  sloop  sent  to 
Africa  in  1736,  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
profits  of  the  venture  were  disappointing.  At  the 
time  of  the  voyage  of  1736,  the  slave-trade  was  con- 
ducted without  system  or  method.  There  were  as  yet 
no  trading-stations  at  which  a  cargo  might  be  se- 
cured, and  regular  communication  with  the  interior 


The  Shipping  Trade      275 

maintained.  The  voyage  to  the  African  coast  was 
made  in  from  six  to  ten  weelcs,  but  there  was  no  as- 
surance that  slaves  could  be  secured  at  once,  and  a 
tedious  stay  of  months  to  await  a  cargo  was  entirely 
subversive  of  that  "dispatch,"  on  which  our  pioneer 
merchant  so  strenuously  insisted. 

James  Brown  found  a  more  satisfactory  profit  in 
his  West-India  molasses  and  his  New-England  rum. 
He  drew  on  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  as  well 
as  Rhode  Island  for  his  cargoes  of  provisions  and 
lumber.  "Fat  cattle"  were  driven  down  to  the  head 
of  Narragansett  Bay  from  Worcester  and  Uxbridge, 
and  from  the  Connecticut  towns  of  Plainfield,  Kil- 
lingly,  and  Pomfret.  Boards,  shingles,  staves,  and 
hoops  were  collected  from  Taunton  and  Greenwich. 
Butter  was  brought  in  from  the  back  country,  and 
from  Newport.  The  farmers  from  Warwick  fur- 
nished tobacco,  while  those  at  Pawtuxet  brought 
beef  packed  in  the  barrel.  Hemp  was  obtained  from 
his  more  immediate  neighbors.  Candles,  too,  were 
home-made.  Horses  were  picked  up  whenever  a 
good  opportunity  offered  at  prices  varying  from  ten 
to  twenty  gallons  of  rum.  They  were  an  essential 
factor  in  the  trade  to  the  Dutch  West-Indian  colonies, 
for  that  profitable  market  was  opened  to  the  English 
on  the  explicit  condition  that  they  should  bring  down 
horses  for  the  use  of  the  Dutch  sugar-planters.  Many 
a  tight  little  sloop,  laden  with  a  judicious  assortment 
of  horses,  candles,  dried  fish,  cheese,  and  lumber, 


276  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

made  three  or  four  trips  a  year  to  the  "Weste  Indes." 
Later,  onions  and  oysters  were  added  to  the  list  of 
standard  articles. 

As  we  follow  the  mercantile  career  of  Obadiah 
Brown,  and  of  his  nephews  the  "four  brothers,"  it 
becomes  apparent  that  their  interest  in  the  slave- 
trade  was  a  minor  factor  in  the  extension  of  their 
prosperity.  It  is  true  that  they  sent  the  schooner 
Wheel  oj  Fortune  to  the  windward  coast  of  Africa,  in 
March,  1759,  when  insurance  was  at  twenty-five  per 
cent  premium,  —  a  fact  which  would  argue  well  for 
the  proportion  of  profit  expected.  When,  however, 
after  the  treaty  of  peace  with  France,  Hopkins  took 
the  ^ally  out  to  the  Guinea  Coast,  he  found  there 
precisely  the  same  conditions  that  had  hampered 
Obadiah  Brown  thirty  years  earlier.  We  can  hardly 
doubt  that  his  voyage  was  a  disappointment  to  his 
owners. 

There  were  certain  reasons,  too,  why  the  Brothers 
Brown  were  peculiarly  well  contented  with  their 
business  enterprises  close  at  hand.  Already  their 
"Sperma  Ceti  Works"  atTockwotton  had  gained  an 
enviable  reputation,  and  their  candles  were  shipped 
far  and  wide,  in  ever-increasing  quantities.  In  1765, 
Hope  Furnace  was  put  in  operation,  and  only  three 
years  later  the  firm  of  Nicholas  Brown  and  Company 
was  sending  pots,  kettles,  and  ash-pans  to  Nan- 
tucket, New  York,  Norwich,  and  other  coast  towns, 
and  even  to  Dominica  and  Tobago.  It  seems  evident 


The  Shipping  Trade      277 

that  their  busy  distilleries  supplied  the  "Guinea- 
men"  of  their  old  friends  the  Wantons,  and  other 
Newport  merchants,  and  that  their  own  shipments 
consisted  ever  more  largely  of  those  local  manu- 
factures whose  excellence  soon  secured  for  them  a 
wide  market,  and  whose  output  was  controlled  by  the 
Brothers  Brown  and  their  family  connections. 


Chapter  VIII 

THE  COLONIAL  TOWN  OF  PROVIDENCE 

AMONG  the  throngs  that  cross  Red  Bridge 
to-day,  from  the  procession  of  milk-wagons 
entering  the  city  in  the  early  morning  to 
the  groups  of  golfers  whose  faces  are  turned  town- 
ward  at  dusk,  there  are  few  who  do  not  linger  for 
a  moment's  glance  up  the  stream  of  the  Seekonk. 
Gently  curving  banks  lined  with  trees  are  near  at 
hand.  On  the  left,  picturesque  tree-tops  stand  clearly 
defined  against  the  sky.  On  the  right,  just  at  the  turn 
of  the  river,  a  group  of  unsightly  factories  offends  the 
eye,  softened,  it  is  true,  by  the  enchantment  of  dis- 
tance, yet  serving  to  remind  us  anew  that,  save  for 
the  works  of  man,  "every  prospect  pleases."  Close 
to  these  tall,  smoke-blackened  chimneys,  amid  sur- 
roundings sadly  at  variance  with  its  winding  course 
through  meadow  and  woodland,  the  gay  little  Ten- 
Mile  River  enters  the  broad  Seekonk. 

The  Ten-Mile  River  is  known  and  loved  by  us  of 
the  present  day  for  its  picturesque  and  shaded  wind- 
ings, and  its  apparent  remoteness  from  the  rush  and 
turmoil  of  the  workaday  existence  in  the  busy  city 
across  the  Seekonk.  Our  forefathers,  some  two  hun- 
dred years  ago,  saw  the  Ten-Mile  from  quite  a  dif- 
ferent point  of  view.    They  came  through  Ferry 


The  Colonial  Town       279 

Lane,  and  crossed  at  the  Narrow  Passage  for  the 
very  utilitarian  purpose  of  visiting  the  stores  and 
wharves  which  then  lined  Walker's  Point,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  little  stream.  There  supplies  were  pur- 
chased in  greater  variety  and  at  less  cost  than  from 
the  travelling  peddler,  or  the  master  of  a  tramp  sloop, 
whose  intermittent  visitations  were  but  a  poor  de- 
pendence for  the  necessaries  of  life.  This  outlying 
settlement  of  the  prosperous  town  of  Rehoboth  long 
served  as  a  base  of  supply  for  the  farmers  of  Attle- 
borough  and  Pawtucket,  as  well  as  for  the  more 
immediate  neighbors  at  Providence. 

With  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  there 
came  a  more  comfortable  state  of  things  at  home. 
Had  we  entered  Providence  by  way  of  the  ferry  at 
the  Narrow  Passage  some  ten  years  later  still,  —  let 
us  say  in  1759,  or  1760,  —  and  made  our  way  thence 
to  that  centre  of  the  town's  activity,  the  Towne 
Wharf  and  the  adjacent  Parade,  we  should  have 
found  more  than  one  occasion  to  linger  for  comment 
on  recent  changes  and  improvements. 

At  the  extreme  northern  end  of  that  well-worn 
thoroughfare,  the  Towne  Street,  our  interest  and 
admiration  must  have  been  excited  by  the  imposing 
structure,  known  then  as  now,  as  "  Elisha  Brown's 
brick  house."  Elisha  Brown  was  the  youngest 
brother  of  the  forceful  Captain  James.  In  some 
respects  he  is  a  pathetically  interesting  figure  in  the 
town's  history.  When  in  his  prime,  he  seems  to  have 


2  8o   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

been  the  most  active  man  in  Providence,  though  far 
from  being  uhimately  the  most  successful.    Promi- 
nent both  as  man  of  business  and  as  politician,  he 
attained  a  high  position  in  each  capacity.  From  1765 
to  1767  he  served  as  deputy  governor  of  the  colony. 
He  bought  and  sold  lands,  houses,  merchandise, 
cattle,  and  slaves :  built  grist-mills,  ran  the  town  corn- 
mill,  and  also  the  town  poorhouse.  One  of  his  more 
permanent  undertakings  was  the  construction  of  the 
brick  house,  which  still  bears  his  name,  at  the  North 
End  of  the  Towne  Street.  It  was  built  about  the  year 
1759.  The  original  dimensions  were  seventy-two  by 
twenty-eight  feet,  and  it  was  no  less  than  four  stories 
in  height.  One  half  of  this  ambitious  structure  is  still 
standing,  and  is  to-day,  even  as  it  was  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago,  an  object  of  interest  to  both  old 
and  young.  Governor  Brown's  mansion-house  was 
also  on  the  Towne  Street,  a  little  north  of  Olney's 
Lane. 

In  the  tax-list  of  1759  for  the  assessment  of  a  rate 
to  pay  for  the  fire-engine,  Elisha  Brown  occupies  the 
proud  position  of  the  town's  largest  taxpayer  owning 
perishable  property  in  the  compact  part  of  the  town, 
subject  to  loss  by  fire.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  his  wife 
inherited  the  town-mill  from  her  cousin,  Charles 
Smith,  Elisha  Brown  became  town-miller.  He  was 
responsible  for  keeping  the  mill  in  good  condition, 
and  was  allowed  to  exact  as  toll  for  his  services 
**the  fourteenth  Part  of  the  Indian  corn  ground; 


Deputy-Governor  Elisha  Brown  House 

North  Main  Street,  north  of  Olney  Street.  Built  about 
1759,  the  first  brick  house  in  the  compact  part  of  the 
town  of  Providence.  From  a  photograph  taken  in  1865, 
now  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


38  J  l9    AH8Ij3   ^OVI^aVoO-YT'JIHG 

')iij  ,     . ...  ^     ...  ,inoo  orfj  IK  ^ .,_...,.  J2ift  oiLt  tpj^i 

,:^8i  ftf  n'a^lfij  riqfii^oJoriq  b  moil   .SDnabivoil  lo  nv/oJ 
.v33i'j(j2  lB->noJ8iH  bn^Ial  aborfil  ailJ  ni  v/on 


£> 


The  Colonial  Town        2  8 1 

the  SLxteenth  of  Rye,  and  the  Eighteenth  Part  of 
Wheat." 

It  was  the  Governor's  political  responsibilities  that 
proved  too  heavy  a  load.  During  the  long  Ward- 
Hopkins  controversy,  electioneering  was  conducted 
with  far  greater  regard  for  the  end  attained  than 
for  the  means  employed.  The -free  and  independent 
voter  found  himself  elevated  to  a  position  of  com- 
manding influence,  and  able  to  drive  a  correspond- 
ingly good  bargain  as  the  price  of  his  attendance  at 
the  poll.  When  the  traders  of  Providence  determined 
to  make  their  voice  heard  in  the  political  councils  of 
the  colony,  they  met  with  an  equally  determined  re- 
sistance. The  merchants  of  Newport  and  the  planters 
of  South  County  were  not  men  to  relinquish  their 
political  supremacy  without  a  struggle.  When,  in 
1755,  after  a  long  and  bitter  contest,  Stephen  Hop- 
kins was  elected  governor,  the  political  veterans  bent 
themselves  anew  to  the  effort  to  subdue  once  for  all 
this  intrusive  upstart  from  the  rival  town  on  the  Mo- 
shassuc.  Two  years  of  storm  and  stress  brought  a 
Newport  candidate  —  Samuel  Ward,  of  Westerly  — 
once  more  to  the  governor's  chair. 

The  unrestrained  violence  of  the  campaign  rhetoric 
employed  on  this  occasion  led  Stephen  Hopkins  to 
consider  himself  justified  in  bringing  suit  for  defama- 
tion of  character  against  the  successful  candidate.  So 
unhesitatingly  was  the  question  of  libel  prejudged 
throughout  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  that,  in  the 


2  82  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

interests  of  fair  play,  the  case  was  brought  before  a 
Massachusetts  court.  Ward  was  acquitted  of  the 
charge  of  "false  and  scandalous  libel,"  The  case  was 
promptly  appealed,  but  was  put  off  from  term  to 
term  on  one  pretext  or  another  until  the  September  of 
1759,  when  the  long-suffering  judges  refused  to  post- 
pone further  the  course  of  justice.  Hopkins  there- 
upon withdrew  his  suit,  having  gained  naught  save 
the  obligation  of  paying  the  costs,  and  the  privilege 
of  seeing  himself,  as  his  political  opponents  saw  him, 
in  the  numerous  and  scathing  broadsides  issued  by 
Ward  and  his  supporters. 

From  1757  to  1768,  when  both  Hopkins  and  Ward 
publicly  withdrew  their  names  as  candidates  for  the 
office  of  governor,  the  political  battle  raged  un- 
checked. In  the  true  spirit  of  an  age  when  the  home 
government  found  no  argument  so  convincing  as 
that  of  place  or  pension,  the  long-headed  Englishmen 
of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantation  brought 
practical  business  methods  to  bear  on  their  reading  of 
the  signs  of  the  times.  It  was  not  from  purely  philan- 
thropic motives  that  seventeen  of  the  best-known  and 
most  highly  respected  citizens  of  Providence  signed  a 
*'  Promise  to  pay  the  Sums  we  here  Severaly  freely 
Set  to  our  names  in  Such  Articles  as  may  be  the  most 
Useful!  in  procuring  the  free  Votes  of  the  poorer  Sort 
of  Freemen  in  this  County  .  .  .  and  more  particu- 
larly them  Who's  Surcumstances  does  not  admit  their 
Time,  to  the  Injury  of  their  Familys."   Forty-four 


Broadside  Lampoon 

Issued  by  the  Hopkins  party  in  1763  against  Samuel 
Ward  and  Gideon  Wanton.  From  a  copy  of  the  broad- 
side in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society.  Reduced  to 
about  half  size. 


hiiiiw.?.  JanicQE  j^.^^!  n't  vJiKq  ^.niiiqoH  adJ  x^  baue?.! 

'         '     •    ".  '"   •  I      '   vib7/  noybiO  bne  bifiW 

idfilel  aboriil  ariJ  ni  abia 


5(09a«5COCe(^XO«cOcOOOeOt09«)50^^ 

The/  Fall   of  Samuel  the  Squomicutite,  and   the 
Overthrow  of  the  Sons  of  Gideon. 

■OW  Solomon  the  Son  of  Solomon  flept  with  his  Fathers,  and  was  buried 
in  the  Tomb  of  Solomon  his  Father,  and  Solomon  his  Son  reigned  in 
his  Stead.  e.. 

In  thofe  Days  there  was  Contention  in  the  Land  of  the  PmAimteSf 
between  Stephen  the  Choppcmijhte,  and  Samuel  the  Squcmicttliu.-— 
And  the  Inhabiunis  of  Trcpwen  fcnt  Mefiage  to  Snmiiel  the  Squomicutite,  faying  y 
We  will  give  our  Daughters  unto  thy  Sons,  and  take  thy  Sons  for  our  Daughters, 
we  will  bcconfK  as  one  People,  and  fight  thy  Battle  againft  Stephen  the  Choppomijkite, 
IX  thou  will  come  and  dwell  in  the  Land  of  Trojnven. 

And  Samuel  being  a  weak  Man,  hearkened  unto  the  People  of  Trop^en,  and 
came  and  dwelt  among  them,  at  different  Times,  for  the  Space  of  three  whole 
Weeks.  • 

And  Samuel  made  Affinity   with  Gideon  and  his  Sons. Now  the  Sons  of 

Cidaii,  are  Blunderbufs^  Nimjhi,  Tefty^  and  Stuhbcrn,  all  mighty  Men  of  Valor. 

And  Samuel(&\d  unto  the  Sons  of  GiJecn,  if  you  will  hear  my  Voice,  and  hearkca 
unto  my  Words,  ye  fliall  be  great  Men  irv  the  Land. 

Blaiiderhufs  (hall  ride  on  a  large  grey  Mare,  with  a  S*-ord  by  his  Side,  and  ft 
white  Wand  in  his  Hand,  and  fhall  execute  Judgment  in  the  Land. 

Nim/li  (hall  be  firft  Ruler  in  Tropwen,  with  a  Staff  made  of  Hickory  Wood 
fhall  he   walk  up  and  down  in  the  Streets  of  Trcp-u'en,  before  the  People. 

Unto  Tejiy  will  I  give  my  CommifTlon,  to  overiee  the  Merchants  and  Traders  ia 
the  Land,  that  their  Ships  fhap  ngt  go  fb.c^  nor  come  again,  unlefs  they  pay  Tri- 
bute unto  him.  '  .^.■:'  '   ' 

Siutl/orn  your  younger  Brother,  ye  f}vtl(  jfcnd"  forth  with  my  Meflages  and  my 
CGitripai^ds,  and  in  due  Time,  i  will  exajt  him,  and  make  him  a  great  Man  ia 
Tropvjen. 

The  Sons  of  Gideon,  loving  the  Mammon  of  Unrighteoufnefs,  hearkened  unto 
the  Words  of  Samuel,  and  they  all  arofe  furioufly  on  the  Morrow. 

And  they  ran  unto  the  Hewers  of  Wood  and  Drawers  of  Water,  and  to  thofe 
that  ufe  the  Spade  and  Pick-axe  •,  faying, — Sanuel  the  Squomicutite,  wages  ,War 
againft  Stephen  the  Choppomifiite  -,  and  if  ye  alTift  not  Samuel,  we  will  turn  ye  from 
your  D\vcllings,  and  withold  Food  and  Raiment  from  your  Children,  tliat  they 
jhall  die  in  the  Streets. 

And  thus  did  the  Sons  of  Gideon,  ride  on  Horfes  and  in  Chariots,  to  suid  fro, 
up  and  down,  in  the  Streets  of  Tropwen,  exclaiming  againft  Stephen,  and  opprelEn* 
the  Inhabitants  of  Tropwen,  for  the  Space  of  three  whole  Months.  " 

Samuel  made  alfo  a  League  with  the  Buyers  and  Sellers,  and  Money-changers, 
that  if  they  would  deftroy  Stephen,  Root  and  Branch,  he  would  give  unto  them  the 
PofiefDons  of  the  Poor  throughout  all  the  Land  of  the  Pumkinites.  , 

Now  the  ^aketites,  Choppomijiites,  and  Narraganfetitej,  liked  not  the  Doings"  of 
Samuel  and  the  Sons  of  Gideon,  and  they  fet  tlic  Battle  in  Array  againft  Samuel^  ^od 
they  fmote  him  Hip  and  Thigh,  fothat  the  Killed  and  Wounded  of  that  Day,  were 
difperfed  throughout  all  the  Land  of  the  Pumkinites,  from  the  Land  of  the  Fiiicp- 
men,   Eaftward,  until  thou  comeft  lo  the  great  River  Paukituck,  Weftward. 

And  r.^  Battle  went  fore  againft  the  Sons  of  Gideon,  fcveral  of  them  were  (lain, 
and  thofe  that  remain,  were  fore  affrighted,  fo  that  they  look  like  fierce  Africaem. 
bcfmeared  with  Afhes  in  a  cold  frofty  Morning. 

Now  the  Adls  of  the  Government  of  Samuel,  arc  neither  recorded  in  the  Eo<dt 
of  Samuel,  nor  in  the  A8a  of  the  Kings,  for  be  Hud  much,  butcud  Nothing. 

Made  public  at  Trcfwtn,  as  a  Mcmoriai  of  tbc  Deliverance  of  th«  Pmlamtff^ 


The  Colonial  Town        283 

hundred  pounds  was  the  aggregate  amount  thus 
freely  given  for  such  articles  as  might  be  useful  to  the 
"poorer  Sort  of  Freemen." 

As  time  went  on,  sectional  jealousy  was  almost  lost 
sight  of  in  the  intense  personal  animosity  engendered 
by  the  strife.  It  was  no  longer  merchant  against 
farmer,  or  Providence  threatening  to  rival  Newport. 
It  became  Hopkins  against  Ward.  Factions  appeared 
in  towns  throughout  the  colony,  and  families  were 
divided  by  all  the  bitterness  of  party  rancor.  In 
Providence  the  Brothers  Brown  were  among  Stephen 
Hopkins's  stanchest  supporters.  Their  social  and 
business  connections  were  close  and  constant.  Nich- 
olas Brown  and  Stephen  Hopkins  had  married  cou- 
sins. Their  business  interests  were  in  many  respects 
identical,  and  their  political  views  were  ever  sympa- 
thetic. Among  their  fellow-townsmen  the  opinions 
and  support  of  the  Browns  and  their  allies  carried  no 
little  weight. 

Greatly  to  the  annoyance  of  his  four  rising  young 
nephews,  "Uncle  Elisha"  was  found  among  the 
leaders  of  the  opposition.  He  appears  to  have  taken 
up  the  cause  of  Ward  with  a  zeal  which  probably 
owed  some  of  its  enthusiasm  to  his  own  position  as  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  deputy  governor.  A  fav- 
orite centre  for  political  news  was  the  tavern  owned 
by  Elisha  Brown.  It  was  on  the  Towne  Street,  not 
far  from  the  well-known  "Turpin's,"  and  was  with- 
out doubt  a  potent  factor  in  the  promotion  of  political 


284  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

enthusiasm.  From  its  hospitable  roof-tree  many  a 
delegation  set  forth  to  carry  conviction  to  the  freemen 
in  the  debatable  ground  of  Scituate,  Cumberland, 
and  Glocester. 

The  Hopkins  contingent  marshalled  their  forces 
with  equal  celerity.  In  the  campaign  of  1765,  John 
Brown  wrote  Joseph  Wanton,  Junior,  ''We  Shall 
have  a  hard  Battle  at  Glocester,  their  wos  Not  Less 
than  forty  Men  in  town  Yesterday,  Freemen  be- 
longing there  by  "\\^ose  Return  was  Carried  Rum 
Anough  for  a  Small  Guine  Cargo,  with  Severil  other 
Nessessarys,  &  Brother  Moses  &  Jabez  [Bowen]  Sat 
off  for  that  Town  Yesterday."  Wanton,  although  a 
Newport  man,  was  among  the  most  zealous- of  Hop- 
kins's supporters,  and  served  several  terms  as  deputy 
governor,  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  party  and  him- 
self. In  spite  of  unwearying  efforts  in  behalf  of  "the 
poorer  sort  of  Freemen,"  Ward  and  Brown  were  the 
winning  candidates  in  1765,  and  again  in  1766. 

Elisha  Brown's  political  career  terminated  with  his 
second  term  of  office.  Although  gratifying,  it  was 
costly,  and  the  inroads  made  upon  his  estate  during 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  campaign  were  such  as  it 
proved  impossible  to  recover  from.  The  business 
reverses  of  the  next  few  years  cast  the  heavy  shadow 
of  poverty  over  the  latter  part  of  the  deputy  gov- 
ernor's long  and  varied  career.  His  petition  to  the 
Assembly,  in  1770,  praying  for  relief  under  the  Insol- 
vent Debtors'  Act  of  1756,  tells  in  simple  and  con- 


The  Colonial  Town        285 

vincing  words  a  truly  heart-rending  tale  of  accum- 
ulated misfortunes.  He  had  "within  the  Space  of 
about  five  Years  lost  full  three  Quarters  of  five  Sail  of 
Vessels,"  amounting  to  six  hundred  and  twelve  tons, 
"with  three  Quarters  of  their  Cargoes."  Only  three 
of  his  merchantmen  came  safe  to  port  during  that 
time,  and  their  voyages  were  so  unprofitable  that  his 
losses  amounted  to  ;^8 7,200,  old  tenor.  Within  the 
same  time,  four  valuable  negro  servants  died.  "Also 
within  the  same  Time  one  of  his  Mill  Dams  was 
carried  away  by  a  Flood,  and  one  Mill  almost  over- 
set," the  damage  amounting  to  ;^iq8o,  old  tenor. 
"Divers  Bankruptcies  in  the  Colony"  had  involved 
him  to  the  extent  o^£7,'^j2,  old  tenor.  "  Sickness  and 
Death  hath  been  in  his  Family,  and  besides  his 
Affliction  and  Distress  of  Mind,  he  hath  thereby 
sustained  great  &  heavy  charges." 

The  unfortunate  man  was  surely  justified  in  de- 
scribing his  condition  as  "very  hard  and  grievous." 
He  says  that  he  had  "used  his  utmost  Prudence  & 
Diligence  to  Obtain  a  decent  Living  for  himself,  and 
to  bring  up  and  settle  his  Family  in  the  World."  He 
has  dealt  "fairly  and  uprightly  with  all  Men,"  and 
"makes  no  doubt"  that  his  neighbors  will  testify  to 
his  "  Diligence  in  Business,  Fairness  in  Trade,  and 
most  active  Endeavours  to  settle  his  Afifairs."  Since, 
as  matters  now  stand,  he  "is  subject  to  immediate 
Imprisonment"  for  debt,  he  "knows  not  of  any 
better  Way  than  to  apply  to  the  Assembly  for  Re- 


2  86  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

lief."  The  so-called  relief  was  granted.  The  rem- 
nants of  the  poor  man's  estate  were  duly  inventoried, 
and  sold  at  public  vendue  for  the  benefit  of  his  cred- 
itors. Silver  spoons,  household  stuff,  and  farm  im- 
plements went  under  the  hammer,  as  well  as  his 
three  dwelling-houses  in  Providence,  and  his  farm 
in  North  Providence. 

While  the  politicians  raged,  and  "the  poorer  sort 
of  Freemen"  gathered  up  such  crumbs  of  comfort  as 
were  thoughtfully  dispensed  by  their  well-wishers, 
the  average  well-to-do  farmer  found  the  humdrum 
tenor  of  his  way  rudely  disturbed  by  the  prevalent 
excitement  and  unrest.  The  exploitation  of  Provi- 
dence for  the  benefit  of  Newport  was  the  agitating 
theme  upon  which  were  played  many  skilfully  mod- 
ulated variations.  As  the  years  went  by,  and  cam- 
paigns waxed  and  waned,  a  suspicion  dawned  on  the 
minds  of  the  freemen  of  the  back  country  that  they  in 
turn  were  exploited,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the 
merchants  and  shopkeepers  on  the  Towne  Street. 
The  suspicion  became  conviction,  and  in  the  eventful 
year  1765,  public  opinion  was  moved  to  action.  The 
state  of  the  case  was  called  to  the  attention  of  the 
General  Assembly  by  a  petition  drawn  up  by  those 
who  dwelt  *'in  the  remote  parts  of  the  Township." 
The  petitioners  describe  themselves  as  "near  all 
Farmers  whose  Interest  &  Business  are  often  times 
different  from  the  Interests  of  the  Merchants  & 
Tradesmen  in  the  Compact  part  of  the  Town."  They 


The  Colonial  Town        287 

complain  that  town-meetings  are  called  with  un- 
necessary frequency,  —  "no  less  than  seven  last  Fall 
in  three  Months  time"  (as  a  matter  of  fact,  four  are 
recorded),  —  and  that  the  matters  under  consider- 
ation do  not  concern  the  farmers,  "who  nevertheless 
were  then  &  still  are  obliged  to  leave  their  Business 
...  to  prevent  any  thing  being  Voted  to  their  Dis- 
advantage, which  occasions  much  Loss  of  Time, 
great  Uselessness  Contention  and  Expense  which 
ought  to  be  born  by  the  Merchants  &  Tradesmen  in 
the  Compact  Part  only."  The  remedy  suggested 
savored  strongly  of  the  "root-and-branch"  policy. 
Let  the  town  be  divided,  said  the  malcontents ;  set  us 
apart  from  these  "merchants  and  traders,"  and  leave 
them  full  liberty  to  manage  their  own  town-meetings, 
vote  their  own  improvements,  and  pay  their  own 
taxes. 

The  demand  was  not  without  precedent.  Since 
1722  the  town  "twenty  miles  square"  of  which  good 
Doctor  Humphreys  wrote,  had  undergone  a  series  of 
diminutions.  In  1731  an  act  was  passed  for  "incor- 
porating the  out-lands  of  the  town  of  Providence  into 
three  towns,"  namely,  Smithfield,  Scituate,  and 
Glocester,  and  the  improvement  was  formally  de- 
clared to  be  "of  great  ease  and  benefit  to  the  inhab- 
itants ...  in  transacting  and  negotiating  the  pru- 
dential affairs  of  their  town,  which  for  some  time 
past,  has  been  very  heavy  and  burdensome."  Some 
twenty  years  later,  the  settlers  in  the  southwest  part 


2  88  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

of  the  township  obtained  permission  to  become  a 
legalized  corporation  under  the  name  of  Cranston. 
So  recently  as  the  year  1759,  Johnston  had  entered 
upon  a  separate  existence,  to  the  west  of  the  parent 
settlement. 

Again,  in  1765,  the  Assembly  saw  cause  to  grant 
the  petition  quoted,  notwithstanding  the  protests 
entered  on  the  part  of  "the  Ancient  Town  of  Provi- 
dence," to  the  effect  that  the  division  had  been  "  in- 
stigated and  Set  on  by  Crafty  and  designing  Men 
...  to  Serve  the  Interested  Views  and  Sinister  pur- 
poses of  Such  instigation."  Thus  the  town  of  North 
Providence  came  into  being,  in  full  possession  of 
the  usual  rights  and  privileges,  under  the  beneficent 
dispensation  of  Governor  Ward  and  Deputy-Gov- 
ernor Elisha  Brown.  Its  triumphal  career  was  brief. 
Two  years  later  the  rival  party  came  into  power,  and 
within  a  month  of  the  investiture  of  Stephen  Hopkins 
with  such  honors  as  pertained  to  the  colony's  chief 
executive,  we  find  "divers  Freemen  of  the  Town  of 
North  Providence"  representing  that  by  "the  late 
division  of  the  Town  of  Providence  .  .  .  the  greatest 
part  of  the  Inhabitants  .  .  .  taken  off"  were  mer- 
chants and  tradesmen,  and  that  "remaining  in  their 
present  separated  State,  is  greatly  to  their  Disad- 
vantage." The  Assembly  is,  therefore,  prayed  to 
reunite  to  the  town  of  Providence  such  portion  of  the 
town  of  North  Providence  as  is  "commonly  called 
the  compact  part."    The  petition  was  promptly 


The  Colonial  Town        289 

granted.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  divisionists  were 
so  eager  to  interpose  effective  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
the  "Crafty  and  designing  Men"  of  the  Town  Pa- 
rade combination  that  they  overreached  themselves. 
Their  division  line  cut  the  town  at  the  present  Orms 
Street,  and  went  east  to  the  Seekonk  by  way  of  Olney 
Street.  The  remedy  proved  worse  than  the  disease, 
and  the  inevitable  readjustment  two  years  later 
moved  the  line  north  to  Herrenden  Lane,  at  about 
the  middle  of  the  North  Burial  Ground. 

Even  now  the  ravages  of  the  division  epidemic 
were  not  stayed.  In  February,  1770,  there  was  a 
violent  outbreak  "  in  that  Part  of  the  Town  of  Provi- 
dence, which  lieth  on  the  west  side  of  Weybosset 
Bridge."  The  diagnosis  of  the  case  is  given  in  a  peti- 
tion of  great  interest  for  its  graphic  account  of  the 
West  Side  and  the  conditions  of  life  there.  The  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  is  estimated  at  twelve  hundred, 
"among  whom  are  at  least  one  Hundred  Freemen,  — 
altho  it  is  but  a  few  Years  since  building  Houses  took 
Place  there."  The  people  are  described  as  "  Trades- 
men chiefly  .  .  .  [who]  by  Diligence  and  Industry 
,  .  .  surmounted  many  Difficulties  to  effect  a  Settle- 
ment. They  levilled  several  Hills  which  stood  in 
their  Way,  filled  up  sunken  and  low  Places,  laid  out 
and  made  divers  commodious  Streets  and  Lanes 
.  .  .  and  have  Reason  to  hope,  that  with  a  Blessing 
on  their  future  Industry,  they  will  in  a  few  Years 
become  Very  Populous."   The  uneven  shore-line, 


290  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

with  its  long  stretches  of  shoal  water,  offered  small 
inducement  for  the  settlement  of  the  ship-owners  and 
"merchants,"  —  a  term  used  here  to  designate  the 
East  Side  magnates,  —  but  as  in  course  of  time  the 
East  Side  filled  up,  those  who  pursued  "mechanic 
Business  and  Manufactures  ...  sat  down  on  the 
Point  (called  Weybosset),  which  altho  it  was  in  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Town,  was  not  considered  as 
belonging  to  the  compact  Settlement." 

Furthermore,  it  is  alleged  that  "Nature  herself 
hath  interposed,  and  divided  them  from  the  old  Set- 
tlement by  an  Arm  of  the  Sea  .  .  .  [and]  Besides 
this  Detachment  .  .  .  the  Interests,  Views,  and 
Occupations  of  the  Inhabitants  on  either  Side  of  the 
Water,  and  their  Modes  of  getting  a  Living  are  so 
distinct  and  different,  that  an  united  Force  of  the 
whole  for  the  public  Service,  can  never  be  expected." 
And  here  the  petitioners,  in  sorrow  rather  than  in 
anger,  "beg  leave  to  remark  that  they  have  in  many 
Instances  been  aggrieved  by  their  powerful  Neigh- 
bours in  the  Other  side  of  the  Bridge,  the  Particulars 
whereof  they  forbear  to  mention  from  a  Tenderness 
to  them,  and  Love  of  that  Union  and  Harmony  which 
ought  to  be  kept  up  in  any  Community."  Neverthe- 
less, all  past  injuries  shall  be  overlooked,  and  past 
contentions  buried  in  oblivion,  if  only  "all  that  part 
of  the  Town  of  Providence  lying  westward  of  Wey- 
bosset Bridge,  and  the  Harbour  or  Bay,  may  be  in- 
corporated into  a  Town,  to  be  called  and  Known  by 


The  Colonial  Town        291 

the  Name  of  Westminster,  or  such  other  Name  as 
the  Assembly  shall  think  fit."  "Weybosset"  was  the 
name  first  selected  for  the  new  civic  entity,  but  for 
some  unknown  reason,  the  word  was  carefully 
erased,  and  "Westminster"  written  in  its  stead.  It 
seems  probable  that  Weybosset  Neck,  Weybosset 
Point,  Weybosset  River,  and  Weybosset  Bridge  gave 
ample  opportunity  for  confusion  of  terms  without 
adding  to  the  collection  a  town  of  Weybosset. 

The  petition  appears  to  have  represented  a  real 
grievance,  for  among  its  signatures  are  a  goodly 
number  whose  owners  were  men  of  substance  and 
position.  On  the  other  hand,  some  names  are  con- 
spicuous by  their  absence.  One  of  the  best-known 
and  most  prosperous  of  the  West-Siders  was  Jacob 
Whitman,  a  shopkeeper  at  the  present  Turk's  Head, 
where  Weybosset  Street  diverges  from  Westminster. 
Mr.  Whitman  was  a  man  of  sufficient  prominence  to 
be  known  and  appreciated  by  the  East-Side  "mer- 
chants and  traders."  He  had  already  served  a  year 
or  two  on  the  Town  Council,  where  West-Side  names 
were  few  and  far  between.  Whether  his  experience 
during  his  term  of  office  influenced  his  views  respect- 
ing a  town  to  be  called  Westminster,  we  cannot 
venture  to  say.  At  all  events,  he  did  not  sign  the 
petition  just  quoted.  This  document  was  read  <<in 
full  town-meeting,"  and  the  dissenting  voices  were 
sufficiently  numerous  to  "  Resolve  that  the  Deputies 
of  this  Town  oppose  to  the  Uttermost  of  their  Power, 


292  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  Division  of  the  Town  .  .  .  and  that  no  Person 
shall  be  Elected  as  a  Deputy  .  .  .  untill  he  shall 
Subscribe  to  the  above  Resolve."  No  doubt  the  next 
few  months  were  successfully  devoted  to  enlightening 
public  opinion,  for  when  the  obnoxious  document 
came  up  for  consideration  in  the  September  session 
of  the  Assembly,  it  was  dismissed  for  the  reason  that 
the  petitioners  "being  solemnly  calld  to  come  in  and 
enforce  this  Petition  did  not  appear." 

Jacob  Whitman's  memory  is  still  kept  green  for  all 
old  residents,  even  as  it  is  unconsciously  perpetuated 
by  all  newcomers,  in  the  name  given  to  the  corner 
where  his  ancient  landmark,  the  veritable  *'  Turk's 
Head,"  so  long  grimaced  and  frowned  at  the  pas- 
serby. Originally  the  figurehead  of  the  ship  Sultariy 
whose  ironwork  was  long  supplied  and  renewed  by 
Jacob  Whitman,  this  turbaned  representative  of  the 
Orient  served  Whitman  many  a  year  in  the  humble 
capacity  of  sign-post.  An  indefatigable  investigator 
of  problems  in  local  history  has  advanced  the  opinion 
that  it  was  not  the  old  and  original  "Turk's  Head," 
or  "Sultan's  Head"  which  was  swept  away  in  the 
great  gale  of  1815,  and  carried  among  other  debris 
down  the  river,  but  probably  a  later  and  more 
grotesque  street-sign,  the  product  of  local  talent 
exerted  rather  to  caricature  than  to  reproduce  the 
Sultan  s  figurehead.  After  the  waters  of  destruction 
had  subsided,  the  "Turk's  Head"  was  recovered, 


The  Colonial  Town         293 

taken  to  Alabama,  and  once  more  set  up  in  business 
before  the  shop  of  Jacob's  grandson. 

Jacob  was  himself  a  Massachusetts  man.  He  came 
to  Providence  shortly  after  1740,  and  established 
himself  and  his  blacksmith's  shop  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  town,  near  the  Tillinghast  neighborhood. 
In  the  course  of  four  or  five  years  he  bought  a  "  small 
lot"  on  the  west  side  of  Great  Bridge,  at  the  corner 
where  incomers  and  outgoers  might  conveniently 
pause  to  repair  a  loosened  horseshoe,  or  tighten  a 
shaky  tire.  Settlers  in  the  immediate  vicinity  were 
not  numerous,  but  the  "Snow  Neighborhood"  was 
just  starting  on  its  prosperous  career,  and  there  was  a 
new  shipyard  close  at  hand,  where  Roger  Kinnicutt 
(also  of  Massachusetts)  was  conducting  a  thriving 
business.  Whitman  made  a  specialty  of  furnishing 
ironwork  for  ships,  and  in  this  line  he  filled  orders 
for  firms  so  far  afield  as  Boston,  Lynn,  and  Salem. 
His  ''small  lot"  was  extended  by  later  purchases,  a 
shop  was  added  to  the  business  of  the  smithy,  a 
mansion-house  appeared,  and  eventually  Whitman's 
Block  and  Whitman's  Corner  became  as  universally 
well  known  as  Great  Bridge.  An  interesting  item  in 
connection  with  his  shopkeeping  is  his  imports  from 
the  famous  shoemakers  of  Lynn.  He  received  in 
return  for  his  ironwork  "Shoos  Stampt"  and  "not 
Stampt,"  "Shoos  Gloshees,"  "Clog-gloshees,"  and 
clogs  pure  and  simple.  The  latter  cost  six  shillings  a 
pair. 


2  94  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Whitman's  ledger  gives  ample  evidence  of  business 
relations  with  the  East-Side  merchants,  and  of  his 
own  interests  in  the  shipping-trade.  He  lived  until 
1802,  and  of  his  thirteen  children  only  one  survived 
him.  This,  his  son  Jacob  made  an  interesting  career 
for  himself  as  watchmaker,  ship-owner,  and  auction- 
eer. He  it  was  who  built  the  large  brick  block  at 
Turk's  Head,  part  of  which  is  still  standing.  His 
somewhat  checkered  career  may  be  followed  in  the 
newspaper  issues  of  a  later  generation.  The  elder 
Jacob  was  not  a  man  to  seek  his  patrons  through  the 
medium  of  newspaper  advertisements.  That  means 
of  drawing  trade  was  the  resource  of  dealers  whose 
sympathies  were  perhaps  less  perfectly  in  accord 
with  the  Brown-Hopkins-Jencks-Bowen  combination 
of  the  East  Side,  by  which  local  industries  were 
directed  with  so  much  sagacity  and  penetration. 

Among  those  shopkeepers  who  did  appear  in  the 
advertising  columns  of  the  Providence  Gazette  and 
Country  'Journal  Containing  the  freshest  Advices,  both 
Foreign  and  Domestic,  was  Samuel  Nightingale, 
Junior,  a  prominent  West-Sider  and  a  highly  re- 
spectable man,  both  prosperous  and  progressive. 
Samuel  Nightingale,  Senior,  came  to  Providence 
from  Pomfret.  He  was  born  in  Braintree,  of  that 
good  old  New-England  stock  by  whom  wisdom  was 
prized  above  riches.  The  boy's  inheritance  of  this 
world's  dross  was  left  him  on  condition  that  his  col- 
lege expenses  at  Harvard  should  be  defrayed  from 


The  Colonial  Town        295 

his  share  of  the  estate.  He  graduated  in  1734,  and 
straightway  became  a  preacher  in  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  His  budding  talents  were  not  given 
sufficient  time  to  prove  themselves  entitled  to  culti- 
vation, for  the  young  divine's  health  was  not  equal  to 
the  arduous  task  he  had  undertaken.  He  went  from 
Braintree  to  Pomfret,  and  in  1751  moved  again,  this 
time  to  Providence,  where  his  sympathies  were 
naturally  enlisted  in  behalf  of  the  struggling  little 
flock  who  had  tried  in  vain  to  rally  around  the 
standard  of  Josiah  Cotton,  and  were  thankfully 
accepting  the  ministrations  of  John  Bass. 

Nightingale  betook  himself  to  the  West  Side  of  the 
Great  River,  purchased  a  house  and  lot  of  Joseph 
Snow,  of  real-estate  fame,  and  not  only  settled  down 
in  close  proximity  to  the  obnoxious  "New  Lights" 
and  their  still  more  objectionable  pastor,  but  induced 
that  same  open-minded  pastor  and  his  father,  as  well 
as  the  officiating  clergyman  of  the  opposition  church 
on  the  "Hill,"  to  join  him  in  a  business  venture 
already  alluded  to  in  these  pages,  —  the  Concord 
Distil-House.  This  tour  de  force  was  crowned  with 
success  from  the  start.  No  one  knew  better  than 
Samuel  Nightingale  how  to  distinguish  between 
things  temporal  and  things  spiritual.  Each  Sabbath 
morning  found  him  shaking  the  dust  of  the  Snow 
Neighborhood  from  his  polished  shoes  with  their 
shining  silver  buckles  as  he  wended  his  way  with 
Mistress  Nightingale  on  his  arm,  and  from  three  to 


296  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

seven  children  in  attendance,  eastward  over  Wey- 
bosset  Bridge  and  up  Presbyterian  Lane  to  the  little 
meeting-house  where  the  faith  of  his  fathers  was 
logically  and  theologically  expounded  by  the  Rever- 
end John  Bass. 

"  The  Distil  House  Concord"  —  as  it  is  termed  in 
contemporary  deeds  —  soon  became,  under  Night- 
ingale's astute  management,  one  of  the  most  flourish- 
ing business  enterprises  in  the  town.  Four  years 
after  the  business  was  started.  Nightingale  bought 
out  Snow's  interest,  and  a  little  later  purchased  that 
of  the  Reverend  John  Bass,  thus  becoming  proprietor 
of  three  quarters  of  the  property.  Almost  immedi- 
ately the  scope  of  the  business  was  enlarged.  Sloops 
were  sent  more  frequently  to  the  West  Indies  and 
Surinam  for  supplies  of  molasses.  Customers  from 
Newport  appeared.  Benjamin  Mason  got  many  a 
"  Guine  cask"  filled  at  the  Distil  House  Concord,  as 
also  did  the  notorious  Simeon  Potter,  pirate,  priva- 
teersman,  and  pillar  of  St.  Michael's  Church  at 
Bristol.  Simeon  Potter  was  a  man  not  of  action  only, 
but  of  an  uncompromising  directness  of  speech. 
When  business  transactions  were  not  to  his  mind  his 
expression  of  disapproval  was  not  restrained  by  the 
customary  formalities  of  an  eighteenth-century  busi- 
ness letter.  He  writes  to  his  agent  in  Providence :  "  I 
have  been  Imposed  upon  by  Messrs.  Nightingale  & 
Sweeting  in  a  Cruel  Manner  in  a  quantity  of  Rum 
they  Sent  me.  It  will  bear  no  more  bead  than  worter 


The  Colonial  Town        297 

&  thay  Refuse  making  it  up  —  .  .  .  thay  Pretend 
the  Rum  was  proof  when  thay  Delivered  it  Which 
must  be  absolutly  Forlse." 

When  young  Sam  Nightingale,  Junior,  grew  to 
manhood  and  developed  business  abilities  highly 
creditable  to  his  father's  training,  his  tastes  led  him 
to  engage  in  a  different  field  of  action.  In  1762  he 
bought  out  Joseph  Bennett,  whose  shop  was  situated 
on  the  West  Side,  in  the  Snow  Neighborhood,  about 
where  Grace  Church  stands  now.  His  father's  back- 
ing obtained  for  him  a  profitable  connection  with 
certain  Boston  firms,  who  were  nothing  loth  to  extend 
their  sphere  of  influence  Rhode-Islandward.  Nor  did 
honest  merit  toil  in  vain.  After  four  years  of  experi- 
ence and  profit  on  the  West  Side,  sufficiently  near  the 
homestead  to  admit  of  a  judicious  parental  oversight, 
young  Sam  aspired  to  take  his  place  among  the 
^'merchants  and  traders"  across  the  river.  A  new 
shop  was  built,  and  that  on  a  scale  demanding  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  panes  of  seven  by  nine  glass, 
four  hundred  feet  of  clapboards,  and  six  hundred  and 
thirty-five  shingles ;  and  also  seven  gallons  of  rum,  — 
this  last  item  judiciously  distributed  *'to  the  men" 
by  the  quart,  pint,  half-pint,  and  gill,  as  the  work 
progressed. 

On  October  11,  1766,  Samuel  Nightingale,  Junior, 
was  in  a  position  to  offer  to  the  Providence  public  "a 
large  assortment  of  English,  India,  and  West-India 
Goods,  at  his  new  shop  just  above  the  Great  Bridge.'* 


298  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

A  list  of  the  goods  follows,  and  is  all-embracing  in  the 
variety  set  forth,  from  crimson  satins  and  chip  hats, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  gimlets,  logwood,  and  coffee,  on 
the  other.  There  were  no  Saturday  bargains  in  that 
business  world.  The  same  advertisement  answered 
all  requirements  of  the  shop  and  its  customers  during 
the  remainder  of  the  calendar  year.  There  was  a 
comfortable  certainty  as  to  what  might  be  bought 
and  the  price  thereof.  An  East-Greenwich  customer 
confidently  wrote:  *T  send  by  the  bearer  one  Dollar 
for  which  please  to  send  one  Black  Barcelona  Long 
Cravat  which  is  Four  Shillings  Lawful  Money,  for 
the  remainder  of  the  Money  send  me  the  value 
thereof  in  your  best  Black  Ribbon  that  is  Suitable  for 
Rolling  Men's  Hair.  The  Barer  is  going  to  Lay  out 
some  Money  at  Providence,  which  I  recommended  to 
your  Shop." 

Three  years  after  the  new  shop  was  opened,  its 
proprietor  became  the  fortunate  husband  of  Miss 
Susannah  Crawford,  the  granddaughter  of  Gabriel 
Bernon  and  great-granddaughter  of  that  Gideon 
Crawford  who  first  brought  the  name  to  Providence. 
She  is  pronounced  by  the  Gazette  to  be  "an  amiable 
young  Lady,  endowed  with  every  Accomplishment 
that  tends  towards  rendering  a  Marriage  State  agree- 
able." The  young  couple  set  up  their  household  gods 
on  the  Towne  Street  opposite  King's  Church,  it  may 
be  in  the  very  house  that  Susannah's  grandfather  had 
built. 


The  Colonial  Town        299 

Like  his  father,  Samuel  Junior  was  numbered 
among  the  pillars  of  the  Congregational  church, 
where  he  as  deacon  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
church  administration  during  the  eventful  years  of 
the  ministry  of  the  Reverend  David  Shearman 
Rowland.  After  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Bass,  Mr. 
Rowland  was  invited  by  the  Congregationalists  of 
Providence  to  become  their  pastor.  He  had  already 
undergone  a  somewhat  unusual  experience  while 
laboring  to  further  the  cause  of  his  Master  as  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  church  in  Plainfield,  Connecti- 
cut. Briefly  stated,  the  facts  are  as  follows:  In  1747, 
four  years  after  taking  his  degree  at  Yale,  Mr.  Row- 
land was  called  to  the  church  in  Plainfield.  In  the 
course  of  the  preliminary  negotiations  it  transpired 
that  the  candidate  was  an  uncompromising  advocate 
of  church  government  by  means  of  a  convention  of 
churches,  or  "Consociation,"  and  equally  opposed  to 
^'Separatism,"  or  the  local-option  method  of  managing 
church  matters.  Plainfield  was  Separatist,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  parishioners  refused  to  confirm  the  call. 

Notwithstanding  this  attitude  of  reserve  on  the 
part  of  his  flock,  Rowland  continued  to  officiate  as 
minister,  probably  believing  that  enforced  spiritual 
illumination  would  be  more  beneficial  than  the 
"outer  darkness."  Gradually  the  vigilance  of  the 
opposition  relaxed,  until  finally  it  came  to  pass  that 
on  one  bitterly  cold  December  day,  when  the  town- 
meeting  was  held  in  the  regular  course  of  events,  only 


300  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

about  fifty  of  the  townspeople  obeyed  the  summons ; 
and  of  these,  whether  by  accident  or  design,  a  large 
majority  belonged  to  the  church  party.  Such  a  lead- 
ing of  Providence  as  this  was  not  to  be  neglected. 
Rowland  was  promptly  voted  into  office,  with  a 
liberal  salary.  The  Separatist  contingent  were  indig- 
nant but  helpless.  Their  efforts  to  induce  Mr.  Row- 
land to  resign  were  made  in  vain.  In  explicit  terms 
this  champion  of  the  faith  set  forth  his  conviction 
that  the  divine  call  to  uphold  the  Ecclesiastical 
Constitution  of  Connecticut  admitted  no  denial. 

From  that  time  to  1760  a  state  of  open  warfare 
prevailed.  Year  after  year  the  town  refused  to  pay 
the  minister's  salary,  and  year  after  year  the  min- 
ister sued  the  town.  The  episode  (which  is  treated 
at  length  in  Miss  Larned's  History  of  Windham 
County)  was  closed  by  the  formation  of  two  religious 
societies,  and  in  the  general  rearrangement  which 
followed,  Mr.  Rowland  found  himself  left  out  in  the 
cold.  The  church,  whose  battle  as  well  as  his  own 
he  had  so  uncompromisingly  sustained,  voted  to  dis- 
pense with  his  services,  "on  account  of  the  great 
uneasiness  prevailing."  Bereft  of  his  hard-won 
laurels  in  the  very  moment  of  victory,  the  undaunted 
young  pastor  looked  about  for  new  fields  of  conquest. 
They  were  close  at  hand.  Shortly  after  his  discon- 
certing rejection  at  the  hands  of  the  ingrates  at  Plain- 
field,  he  became  the  leader  of  a  forlorn  hope  in 
Providence. 


Discourse   on   the   Repeal   of  the   Stamp  Act, 
1766. 

By  Rev.  David  S.  Rowland.    From  copy  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society. 


obofl^  odi  ni  vqoo  rnoi'^    .Lnfilv/oH  .8  bivfiCI  .vaH  yH 
.vtaboS  IfohoJeiH  bnclel 


r 


■  Jhd    Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  njuice. 


King  David. 

-•    ^1  free,  and  not  uf.n^_   >jrur  liberty  for  ackak  of  malinoufnefs,  hut  Of 
;.  firvants  oj  \^o.i.---tear  GoJ,---bonour  tbe^ki/tg. 

Ap.  Peter. 

PROVIDE  N.C  E,     (New-England)  -  ; 
Friiued  by  Sarah  Coddard,  and   Company. 


pfVINE    PROVIDENCE 

ILLUSTRATED    and    IMPROVED,  |! 

Thankfgiving-Difcourfe,  I 

PREACHED  ? 

(By.  Defire)    in  the    Presbyterian,    or 
Congregational  Churcf^ 

IN 

f>ROviDENCB,  jV.  £.  Wednefday   June  4,  1760. 
^  ^eing  Jiis  Majesty's  Birth  Day,  and  Day  of 

Rejoicing, 

O  C  C  A  S  I  O  N  E  D     B  Y     T  II  E 

REPEAL 

OF     THE 

S  T  A  M  P  -  A  C  T. 

i 
(Publifhed  at  the  Defire  of  the  Hearers) 

.BY 

DAVID     S.     ROWLAND,     M.  A, 

Miniller  of  faid  Church. 


1 


The  Colonial  Town        301 

The  Congregational  church  in  that  town  had  not 
enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  a  settled  pastor  since  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Bass,  in  1758.  The  sympathetic 
Doctor  Stiles,  of  Newport,  describes  it  as  *'  reduced 
to  a  low  and  disconsolate  State  .  .  .  the  Succession 
of  the  Church  survived  in  but  few  ...  I  think  only 
4  Brethren."  If  few,  they  were  none  the  less  equal 
to  saving  the  situation.  By  a  timely  appeal  to  the 
churches  in  Bristol,  Medfield,  and  Rehoboth  they 
obtained  spiritual  counsel  and  fresh  accessions  to  the 
membership,  bringing  the  numbers  up  to  twenty-one. 
Thus  reinforced,  the  Church  invited  Mr.  Rowland  to 
fill  the  vacant  pulpit.  He  **took  the  pastoral  Care 
(without  Instalment)  accounting  himself  a  Minis- 
ter," says  Stiles. 

Although  from  this  time  forth  the  church  presented 
a  creditable  harvest  of  listeners,  in  response  to  Mr. 
Rowland's  unwearying  labors,  its  financial  record 
was  far  from  satisfactory.  The  Providence  business 
men  of  the  eighteenth  century,  like  the  more  widely 
known  leaders  of  industry  of  a  later  generation,  saw 
cause  for  congratulation  in  the  fact  that  salvation 
is  free.  Comforting  themselves  with  this  reflection, 
they  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  appeals  for  the  tithe  of 
anise  and  of  cummin,  preferring  rather  to  invest  their 
hard-won  shillings  and  pence  in  such  enterprises  as 
commanded  a  market  price. 

At  length  in  1771,  the  sorely  tried  Rowland  in- 
formed his  flock  that  he  was  "necessitated  to  medi- 


30  2  Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

tate  a  Removal  for  want  of  Subsistance."  This  un- 
varnished statement  aroused  the  "Gentlemen  of 
the  Congregation,"  and  loosened  their  purse-strings. 
"  They  are  able,  if  God  gives  them  a  heart,  to  main- 
tain the  Ministry,"  comments  good  Doctor  Stiles,  as 
if  that  desirable  consummation  could  hardly  be  at- 
tained without  the  intervention  of  a  "special  Prov- 
idence." A  businesslike  presentation  of  the  facts 
proved  to  be  all-sufficient,  however.  Mr.  Rowland's 
stipend  was  raised  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  pounds 
(legal  money)  per  year,  and  he  was  to  have  "a 
House  to  live  in."  Among  the  list  of  those  immor- 
talized by  Stiles  as  "giving  liberally"  are  the  Bow- 
ens,  —  Doctors  Ephraim  and  Jabez,  —  the  Night- 
ingales, —  father  and  son,  —  Deputy-Governor 
Sessions,  our  old  acquaintance  Jacob  Whitman, 
and  Joshua  Hacker,  —  the  owner  of  Hacker's  Hall 
and  Hacker's  Packet,  both  well-known  institutions 
in  the  Providence  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Under  conditions  so  little  indicative  of  prosperity 
and  liberality  as  those  just  described,  we  are  some- 
what puzzled  to  account  for  the  unprecedented  ap- 
pearance of  an  organ  in  the  Congregational  church, 
only  nine  months  before  the  long-suffering  pastor 
was  led  by  force  of  circumstances  to  contemplate 
resigning  his  charge.  The  organ  possessed  two 
hundred  pipes,  so  Doctor  Stiles  tells  us,  and  that 
worthy  divine  also  records  that  "This  is  the  first 
organ  in  a  dissenting  Chh.  in  America  except  Jersey 


The  Colonial  Town        303 

[Princeton]  College.  .  .  .  Mr.  West  has  exercised 
himself  upon  it  a  month  in  learning  to  play."  The 
use  of  instrumental  music  in  church  worship  was 
still  a  daring  innovation  in  the  eyes  of  most  of  our 
forefathers.  WTiile  members  of  the  "dissenting 
churches"  entertained  conscientious  scruples  against 
the  employment  of  this  worldly  instrument  in  the 
service  of  the  Lord,  its  appearance  in  Providence 
aroused  sentiments  of  an  entirely  different  order, 
although  equally  condemnatory,  in  the  breasts  of 
such  as  belonged  to  the  Anglican  communion.  These 
estimable  adherents  to  the  faith  of  their  sovereign 
seem  to  have  felt  that  in  this  matter  the  dissenters 
were  not  "playing  fair,"  if  we  may  judge  from  a 
remark  of  Doctor  Stiles,  who  says:  "it  gives  great 
offence  to  the  Episcopalians  in  Providence,  who  say, 
we  have  nothing  to  do  with  it." 

Evidently  this  cause  of  offence  proved  to  be  a 
stimulus  to  action  as  well,  for  in  the  early  winter  of 
the  following  year, — 1772,  —  an  edifying  and  pious 
entertainment  was  announced  to  the  good  people  of 
Providence  by  means  of  the  following  broadside  — 

This  Evening 

The  Tenth  of  December,  at  Six  o'Clock  the 

New 

Organ 

At  King's  Church,  will  be  play'd  on  by  Mr.  Flagg. 

A  Number  of  Gentlemen  belonging  to  the  Town  will 

assist  on  the  Occasion,  and  perform  the  vocal  Parts. 

A  Sermon  on  the  Lawfulness,  Excellency,  and  Advan- 


304  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

tage  of  Instrumental  Music  in  public  Worship,  will 
be  preached  by  the  Reverend  John  Graves,  after  which 
a  Collection  will  be  made  to  defray  the  Expence  of 
bringing  the  Organ  from  Boston,  and  fixing  it  in  the 
Church. 

Praise  him  with  Organs.  Ps.  cl,  4. 

The  particular  broadside  quoted  was  the  property 
of  Nicholas  Brown,  merchant,  and  a  stanch  Baptist 
as  well.  An  organ  was  anathema,  according  to  his 
definition  of  orthodoxy,  and  ill-pleased  with  the 
Scriptural  warrant  appended  by  the  light-minded 
Episcopalians  to  their  announcement  of  a  combined 
organ-recital  and  sermon,  Mr.  Brown  added  by  way 
of  commentary  thereto:  '"Praise  him  with  dancing, 
and  the  Stringed  Instruments.*  Ps.  cl.  4th,'*  and  no 
doubt  deduced  from  this  the  comforting  conviction 
that  David's  "organ"  could  not  have  been  a  wind- 
instrument. 

Stiles  alludes  to  the  service  as  the  "  Consecration 
of  the  Organ."  "  This  Organ,"  he  goes  on  to  relate, 
"was  taken  from  the  Concert-Hall  in  Boston  —  from 
being  employed  in  promoting  Festivity,  Merriment, 
Effeminacy,  Luxury,  and  Midnight  Revellings  —  to 
be  used  in  the  Worship  of  God."  The  Boston  con- 
certs of  the  eighteenth  century  must  surely  have  been 
more  lightsome  and  piquant  affairs  than  their  suc- 
cessors of  orchestral  fame  to-day.  In  the  almost 
complete  absence  of  any  public  diversion  save  that 
furnished  by  the  regularly  recurring  Sunday  serv- 


Announcement  of  Installation  of  New  Organ  at 
King's  Church,  1771 

From  the  original  broadside  in  the  John  Carter  Brown 
Library. 


TA  Y.AQrO  WaM  10  VIOITAJJAT8wI  10  TM31vI3DMUOM>lA 

nyraiS  lonxs'J  nriot.  arlJ  ni  abiabfioid  Ifinigho  odi  moi'I 
.TiBidiJ 


"^ii^^ 


r.  Thia^  Evenino;, 

/V..'-"      -  Tiie    Tenth    of   Decejnber^  \ at    Six    o' Clock,    the 

O  R  G  A  N, 

At  King's  Church,  will  be 

.  •"•^■^  K^    .  ^--    ^-  ■ ..-^.-".is;^ -1 

-  a-ste^pia)^^  13}^  Mr.  pLAeej^^   ' 

A  Number  of  Gentlemen  belonging  to  the  Town 
will  affifl:  on  the  Occasion,  and  perform  the  vocal 
Parts.  A  SERMON,  on  the  Lawfulnefs,  Ex- 
cellency and  Advantage  of  Instrumental  Music  in  pub- 
lic Worlhip,  will  be  preached  by  the  Reverend  JOHN 
GRAVES,  after  which  a  Colle6lion  will  be  made  to 
defray    the    Expence    of   bringing   the   ORGAN    from    , 

i     '    -      "  Praif&   him    mth    0  RG  j^JVS^'—VCalm  cl  4. 


1 


The  Colonial  Town        3^5 

ices,  we  can  easily  imagine  that  good  Mr.  Graves 
secured  a  large  and  attentive  audience  for  his  dis- 
quisition on  the  ''Lawfulness  and  Excellency  of 
Music,"  etc. 

Even  more  remarkable  than  the  infrequency  of 
pubHc  entertainments  in  the  Providence  of  that  day 
is  the  fact  that  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  supply 
the  deficiency,  it  was  sternly  frowned  on  by  the 
townspeople  at  large,  not  from  religious  or  moral 
scruples,  but  because  of  the  extravagant  habits  which 
were  thus  engendered  and  fostered.  The  ill-fated 
attempt  alluded  to  was  due  to  the  enterprise  of  a 
company  of  travelling  players.  Their  talents  had 
been  warmly  appreciated  by  the  pleasure-loving 
planters  of  the  South,  where  a  certificate  of  good  be- 
havior and  histrionic  merit  was  furnished  them  by 
no  less  a  personage  than  the  autocratic  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia.  Thus  armed  they  went  forth 
from  the  little  town  of  Williamsburg,  and  after  many 
days  appeared  in  Newport,  where  this  same  certi- 
ficate was  published  in  the  local  paper,  the  Mercury ^ 
with  a  statement  of  the  company's  intention  *'to 
entertain  the  Town  a  short  Time  with  Theatrical 
Performances.  As  they  have  been  at  considerable 
Expense,  they  humbly  hope  the  Inhabitants  will 
grant  them  their  Protection  and  if  they  are  so  happy 
as  to  meet  with  Encouragement,  they  propose  to  give 
a  Benefit  Night  for  the  Support  of  the  Poor." 
There  were  moneyed  men  in  Newport  who  hailed 


3o6  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

this  new  attraction  with  pleasure.  Theatre-parties 
became  the  proper  thing,  and  the  players  benefited 
not  the  poor  alone,  but  themselves  as  well.  As  the 
second  season  in  Newport  drew  to  a  close,  the  suc- 
cessful actors  turned  their  thoughts  to  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Providence,  whence  a  certain  amount  of 
patronage  had  been  already  forthcoming.  With  the 
aid  of  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Nicholas  and  John 
Brown,  a  preliminary  visit  on  the  part  of  the  advance 
agent  proved  encouraging.  A  lot  of  land  was  secured 
on  the  north  side  of  what  is  now  Meeting  Street,  then 
a  new  thoroughfare,  with  few  houses,  and  those  in 
scattered  groups  of  three  or  four  dwellings.  The 
players  put  up  a  house  at  their  own  expense, — not 
an  elaborate  affair  surely,  for  it  was  on  May  20, 1762, 
that  Benjamin  Mason,  of  Newport,  penned  his  letter 
of  introduction,  and  the  theatrical  season  was  to  open 
in  July. 

We  may  safely  take  it  for  granted  that,  like  all 
other  innovations,  this  establishment  of  the  "His- 
trionic Academy"  was  viewed  with  a  certain  tincture 
of  moral  disapproval  by  the  more  sober-minded 
among  the  townspeople.  In  the  first  week  in  July  the 
season  was  opened  with  a  representation  entitled 
Moro  Castle  taken  hy  Storm,  —  founded,  no  doubt, 
on  the  siege  of  Havana,  one  of  the  later  incidents  of 
the  Seven  Years'  War.  Its  success  was  undoubted, 
but  short-lived.  A  long  drought  and  a  light  hay-crop 
appear  to  have  intensified  the  natural  reluctance  of 


The  Colonial  Town        307 

the  Providence  public  to  encourage,  or  even  to  con- 
done, any  form  of  unnecessary  expenditure.  A  pro- 
posal to  forbid  the  players  to  exercise  their  calling 
was  agitated,  and  found  many  supporters.  Benjamin 
Mason  felt  called  upon  to  bestir  himself  once  more 
in  behalf  of  his  friends.  He  wrote  a  second  letter  to 
Nicholas  and  John  Brown,  dated  July  19,  and  run- 
ning as  follows:  *' The  Bearer  Mr.  David  Doug- 
lass is  the  principal  Gentleman  of  the  Actors  who  is 
Come  from  N.  York  expecting  they  have  Liberty  to 
Act  at  your  place  .  .  .  any  assistance  you  can  give 
him  shall  esteem  as  done  myself,  I  realy  think  it  will 
be  of  Advantage  to  your  place,  as  I  heard  when  at 
Boston  Numbers  of  Gentm.  would  come  from  thence, 
as  will  also  from  this  place,  &  I  think  it  will  be  a  hard 
thing  upon  them  if  your  people  have  Suffered  them 
to  go  on  with  their  Building  &  not  Allow  them  to  Act, 
at  Least  as  Long  as  would  pay  their  expenses.  .  .  ." 

The  townspeople,  however,  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all 
remonstrances.  In  fact,  the  same  day  on  which  Mr. 
Mason  wrote  his  appeal  for  equity  saw  a  town- 
meeting  assembled  in  Providence,''  Especially  Called 
by  Warrant,"  and  by  this  potent  assembly  it  was 
formally  resolved  that  application  should  be  made 
to  the  General  Assembly  at  the  following  session, 
"  To  have  a  Act  made  for  Suppressing  all  Kinds  of 
Stage  plays  or  Theatrical  Shows  within  this  Colony." 

In  accordance  with  this  mandate  of  the  people  the 
state  of  affairs  was  duly  set  forth  in  a  petition:  In 


3o8  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

defiance  of  the  town's  prohibition,  the  actors  were 
"daily  continuing  to  Exhibit  Stage  Plays  and  other 
Theatrical  Performances,  which  has  been  and  Still 
is  the  Ocasion  of  Great  uneasiness  to  .  .  .  your 
Honors'  Petitioners  in  this  County,  humbly  conceiv- 
ing that  So  Expensive  Amusements  and  idle  Diver- 
sions, cannot  be  of  any  good  Tendancy  among  us, 
especially  at  this  Time,  when  this  Colony  as  well  as 
others,  is  labouring  under  the  grievous  Calamity  of 
an  uncommon  Drought,  and  a  very  great  Scarcity  of 
Hay  and  Provisions."  For  these  cogent  reasons  the 
Assembly  is  requested  to  make  "Some  Effectual  Law 
to  prevent  any  Stage  Plays,  Commedies,  or  Theatri- 
cal Performances  being  acted  in  this  Colony  for  the 
Future."  The  legislators  bowed  to  public  opinion.  A 
bill  to  forbid  plays  and  playhouses  was  rushed 
through  both  branches  of  the  Assembly  on  August 
24,  and  by  virtue  of  special  clauses  dealing  with  the 
existing  situation,  the  obnoxious  comedians  were 
summarily  warned  out  of  Providence. 

The  sheriff,  whose  duty  it  was  "to  proclaim  the 
Act  by  beat  of  Drum  through  the  Streets  of  the  Com- 
pact part  of  the  Town  of  Providence,"  sagaciously 
contrived  to  combine  business  with  pleasure.  At- 
tending the  "Academy"  with  the  proclamation  in 
his  pocket,  he  listened  with  great  enjoyment  to  the 
evening's  performance.  At  its  close  he  rose  in  his 
seat,  drew  forth  the  dictum  of  the  Assembly,  and 
with  decorous  deliberation  read  it  to  the  audience. 


The  Colonial  Town        309 

The  first  theatrical  season  in  Providence  came  thus 
to  an  untimely  end.  Public  sentiment  was  undoubt- 
edly adverse  to  the  players.  Towards  the  close  of 
their  stay,  threats  of  violence  were  heard,  and  tradi- 
tion tells  us  that  these  murmurings  became  so  loud 
that  John  Brown  —  then  a  hot-headed  young  man 
of  twenty-six  —  prevailed  on  his  friends  to  bring  the 
cannon  from  the  neighboring  cadet-house  to  bear 
upon  the  Histrionic  Academy,  and  that  this  Napo- 
leonic manoeuvre  effectually  intimidated  the  fiery 
spirits  among  the  opposition,  who  had  probably 
meditated  nothing  more  deadly  than  a  battery  of 
eggs,  varied  perhaps  by  an  occasional  brick  or  stone. 
The  names  of  the  Browns  and  their  coterie  of  in- 
timate friends  do  not  appear  among  the  four  hundred 
and  five  signatures  to  the  anti-theatre  petition. 
Doubtless  their  sentiments  were  akin  to  those  ex- 
pressed by  Martin  Howard,  of  Newport,  who  figured 
as  a  sufferer  in  the  Stamp-Act  riots  of  1765,  and  who 
was  prominent  among  the  little  group  of  Rhode- 
Island  loyalists.  He  evidently  had  enjoyed  the  short 
theatrical  season  in  Providence,  for,  writing  to  John 
Brown  in  September,  he  says:  "I  have  not  forgot  the 
very  obliging  Manner  in  which  both  you  and  Mrs. 
Brown  treated  Mrs.  Howard  &  myself  at  Providence, 
if  the  Rascally  Crew  had  not  Expelled  the  poor 
Players  from  your  Town  We  should  have  spent  some 
time  at  Providence."  Not  until  1792  was  another 
attempt  made  to  establish  a  theatre  in  Providence. 


3 1  o  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

After  the  triumph  of  the  party  of  economy  and 
utility  there  was  a  complete  dearth  of  public  amuse- 
ments, save  for  the  omnipresent  lottery,  without 
which  no  enterprise,  from  street-paving  to  parson- 
ages, was  undertaken,  and  the  appearance  of  an  occa- 
sional "Entertainment  for  the  Curious,"  such  as  that 
described  in  the  Gazette,  in  March,  1764.  This  was 
a  "Course  of  Experiments  in  that  instructive  and 
entertaining  Branch  of  Natural  Philosophy  called 
Electricity."  The  course  was  to  consist  of  two  lec- 
tures. In  the  first  of  these  the  abstract  nature  and 
properties  of  electricity  would  be  explained,  while  the 
second  offered  "Many  curious  Experiments,  natur- 
ally representing  the  various  Phenomena  of  Thun- 
der-Storms," and  the  lecturer  promised  that  the 
"Endeavouring  to  guard  against  Lightning,  in  the 
Manner  proposed"  should  be  "shewn  not  to  be 
chargeable  with  presumption,  nor  inconsistent  with 
any  of  the  Principles  of  natural  or  reveal'd  Religion." 
All  this  was  offered  to  the  public  for  "one  Spanish 
Dollar." 

After  these  atmospheric  disturbances  had  cleared 
away,  the  townspeople  were  left  to  their  own  re- 
sources for  another  six  months.  This  time  their  out- 
look on  life  was  broadened  by  a  "View  of  the  famous 
City  of  Jerusalem,"  somewhat  ambiguously  de- 
scribed as  "a  Work  of  Seven  Years,  done  at  German- 
town  in  Pennsylvania."  This  triumph  of  cis-Atlantic 
art  represented  "Jerusalem,  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 


The  Colonial  Town        3 1 1 

his  Royal  Throne,  the  noted  Towers,  and  Hills,  like- 
wise the  Sufferings  of  Our  Saviour  from  the  Garden 
of  Gethsemane  to  the  Cross  on  the  Hill  of  Golgotha" ; 
—  and  was  well  summed  up  as  "an  artful  Piece  of 
Statuary  .  .  .  worthy  to  be  seen  by  the  Curious." 

It  was  not  until  1769  that  ''the  Curious"  were 
afforded  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  anything  remotely 
approaching  the  forbidden  drama.  At  length  the 
interesting  announcement  was  made  that  — 

At  Mr.  Hacker's  Assembly-Room  will  be  read 

THE   BEGGAR'S  OPERA, 

By  a  Person  who  has  read  and  sung  in  most  of  the  great 
Towns  in  America.  .  .  .  He  personates  all  the  Charac- 
ters, and  enters  into  the  different  Humours  or  Passions, 
as  they  change  from  one  to  another,  throughout  the 
Opera. 

Tickets  to  be  had  ...  at  Half  a  Dollar  each. 
.  .  .  To  begin  at  Seven  o'Clock. 
N.B.  Young  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  taught  to  read 
with  Propriety  any  Author  in  the  English  Language. 

The  postscript  assuredly  argues  well  for  the  im- 
personator's courage  and  sense  of  decorum.  This  ad- 
vertisement is  but  one  of  several  symptoms  denot- 
ing that  the  purse-strings  of  the  town  fathers  were 
loosened  in  behalf  of  the  younger  generation.  A  year 
earlier  than  this  introduction  of  intellectual  dissipa- 
tion in  the  form  of  a  reading  of  the  Beggars'  Opera , 
one  John  Baptist  Tioli  announced  in  the  columns  of 
the  local  paper  that  he  proposed  "  to  open  a  Dancing 


312  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

School  .  .  .  where  will  be  taught  the  Minuet, 
Double  Minuet, Quadruple  Minuet,  Paspie,  Gavotta, 
Alcuver,  Hornpipe,  Country  Dances,  &c  of  the  new- 
est Figures."  Having  taught  "the  principal  Nobility 
in  England  and  Ireland,  and  some  very  respectable 
Personages  in  America,"  the  instructor  was  confident 
*' of  giving  entire  Satisfaction."  His  classes  were  to 
be  held  three  days  in  the  week.  From  nine  until 
twelve  A.M.  ladies  only  were  taught,  and  the  hours 
from  five  until  eight  p.m.  were  "  solely  devoted  to  the 
Instruction  of  Gentlemen."  The  advertisement  con- 
cludes by  pointing  out  the  resulting  social  advantages 
in  these  words:  "After  one  Month's  Instruction,  the 
Gentlemen  and  Ladies  will  be  directed  to  attend 
together,  on  every  Friday  Evening,  at  which  Time 
their  respective  Parents  inclined  to  Speculation  will 
have  free  Access." 

Three  weeks  later  Mr.  Tioli  gave  a  concert,  "at 
Mr.  Hacker's  Room,"  in  Hacker's  Hall  on  theTowne 
Street,  where  many  a  gay  party  met  to  dance  the 
hours  away  during  the  next  two  generations  of 
pleasure-seekers.  On  this  festive  occasion  Mr.  Tioli 
was  "to  perform  a  Tamburin  Dance,  in  the  Italian 
Taste."  His  fellow-artist,  a  Mr.  Dawson,  was  "by 
particular  Desire"  to  "present  a  Hornpipe."  The 
concert  was  to  be  followed  by  a  ball.  The  necessary 
tickets  "  (without  which  none  can  be  admitted) "  cost 
"One  Dollar  each."  These  tickets  admitted  a  gentle- 
man and  a  lady.  There  is  little  doubt  that  they  were 


Playing-Card  Invitation 

From  John  Brown  for  a  dance  at  his  new  house,  i; 
From  original  in  John  Carter  Brown  Library. 


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The  Colonial  Town        3 1 3 

printed  on  the  backs  of  playing-cards,  as  was  the 
prevailing  custom  in  those  good  old  times  when  paper 
was  a  luxury,  and  cardboard  well-nigh  unknown. 

It  is  pleasant  to  realize  that  Mr.  Tioli's  varied  tal- 
ents met  the  recognition  they  deserved.  His  stay  in 
town  was  of  two  months'  duration,  and  in  his  an- 
nouncement of  the  farewell  concert  and  ball  with 
which  it  was  brought  to  a  close,  the  courteous  Italian 
turned  a  pretty  compliment  to  his  patrons  as  he  ex- 
pressed his  thanks  for  the  favors  shown  him.  "  'T  is 
with  Reluctance  he  quits  a  Place,  the  Inhabitants 
of  which  are  justly  remarked  for  their  Politeness 
towards  Strangers,  among  whom  he  should  think 
himself  happy  in  residing,  did  not  Business  urge  his 
immediate  Departure." 

By  means  of  these  old  advertisements  in  the 
Providence  Gazette  we  catch  many  illuminating 
glimpses  of  the  social  life  of  our  forefathers.  When, 
in  1762,  William  Goddard  set  up  a  printing-house  in 
the  town  of  Providence  and  published  the  first  news- 
paper, he  met  with  warm  expressions  of  appreciation, 
—  even  though  we  must  admit  that  the  profits  of  the 
venture  fell  far  short  of  the  young  printer's  expecta- 
tions. 

The  first  number  of  this  representative  of  the  press 
appeared  on  October  20.  It  consists  of  four  pages, 
measuring  eight  by  fourteen  inches,  and  contains  a 
prospectus  addressed  to  the  public,  in  which  are  set 
forth  "the  Utility  and  Advantages  of  Performances 


314  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

of  this  Nature,  in  a  Mercantile  Colony,"  together 
with  the  subscription  price  oV  Seven  Shillings  Law- 
ful Money  per  Annum.'"  The  literary  bill  of  fare 
offers  the  first  of  a  series  of  articles  on  "The  Planting 
and  Growth  of  Providence,"  from  the  ready  pen  of 
Stephen  Hopkins;  a  ''Journal  of  the  Expedition 
against  St.  John's,  in  New  Foundland";  a  column 
devoted  to  foreign  affairs ;  notices  of  prizes  brought 
into  the  ports  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York;  five 
local  advertisements ;  "  The  Manifesto  of  the  Em- 
press Catherine  II  On  her  Advancement  to  the 
Throne";  a  "Genealogical  Table  of  the  House  of 
Russia";  and  several  short  extracts  from  the  London 
papers  of  the  last  of  July  and  the  first  week  in  August. 
Such  news  as  the  above  was  to  be  furnished  to  the 
public  in  weekly  instalments. 

Although  the  editor  and  proprietor  was  born  in 
Connecticut  and  learned  his  trade  in  New  York,  his 
kinsfolk  were  found  throughout  Rhode-Island  col- 
ony. His  mother  was  Sarah  Updike,  the  daughter  of 
that  Lodowick  who  "planted"  Wickford.  The  rec- 
ord of  her  six  brothers  and  sisters,  and  their  descend- 
ants, would  fill  a  volume,  and  that  volume  would  be 
one  of  more  than  local  interest  and  importance.  Be- 
sides numerous  relatives  of  delightfully  hospitable 
proclivities  in  Newport  and  the  Narraganset  Coun- 
try, young  William  Goddard  found  in  Providence 
his  cousin,  Captain  John  Updike,  who  had  two  years 
ago  given  up  his  seafaring  life,  married  Mistress  Ann 


The    First    Issue    of   the    Providence    Gazette 

Established  by  William  Goddard  in  1762.   From  copy  in 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


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The  Colonial  Town       3  ^  5 

Crawford,  and  established  her  and  himself  beneath 
the  substantial  family  roof-tree,  still  standing  on  the 
Towne  Street,  albeit  fallen  from  its  high  estate  as  a 
mansion-house  to  serve  the  combined  purposes  of 
shop  and  tenement  accommodations. 

For  the  few  years  immediately  preceding  his 
marriage.  Captain  Updike  was  shipmaster  for  Oba- 
diah  Brown  and  Company.  In  1758  he  took  the  good 
sloop  speedwell  on  the  "  First  Voyage  to  Mississippi," 
in  the  larger  meaning  of  that  designation;  for  on 
perusal  we  find  that  his  sailing-orders  direct  him  to 
secure  a  load  of  logwood  at  the  Bay  of  Honduras. 
The  next  year  he  sailed  in  a  "  flag  a  truse"  for  Louisi- 
ana with  two  French  prisoners  as  exchanges,  and  a 
much  assorted  cargo  of  dry  goods,  glassware,  and 
groceries.  The  exchange  of  prisoners  was  readily 
effected,  but  the  governor  at  New  Orleans,  upon 
getting  wind  of  the  ensuing  mercantile  transactions, 
peremptorily  interposed,  and  (says  Updike)  "wrote 
.  .  .  that  I  must  Begone  from  his  Government." 
The  enforced  departure  was  made  in  such  haste  that 
the  unfortunate  trader  had  not  time  to  collect  such 
money  as  was  owing  him. 

Another  attempt,  made  in  the  following  year, 
brought  down  upon  the  head  of  this  persistent 
Yankee  "  Obsolute  Orders  for  Departer,"  accom- 
panied, however,  by  permission  to  appoint  an  agent 
to  collect  the  outstanding  obligations.  Rebuffed  a 
second  time  at  New  Orleans,  Captain  Updike  "  pro- 


3 1 6  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

ceeded  to  Penzecola,"  where  he  "Could  have  sold 
Great  part  of  the  Cargoe.  .  .  .  But  the  Garrison  had 
not  Received  their  pay  Haveing  above  12  Months 
Arrirs  due  and  there  was  Little  Money  in  the  Place." 
This  interesting  experience  closed  the  nautical  chap- 
ter of  John  Updike's  career.  As  one  of  the  leading 
merchants  of  Providence,  and  as  a  pillar  of  King's 
Church,  he  long  enjoyed  the  affection  and  respect  of 
all  who  knew  him,  and  we  are  assured  by  the  writer 
of  his  obituary  that  "he  was  eminently  distinguished 
for  his  nautical  abilities  and  great  ingenuity." 

The  last-named  qualification  appears  in  his  cousin 
the  printer,  who  published  pamphlets,  almanacs,  and 
an  occasional  book,  besides  offering  to  the  local  pub- 
lic "A  Variety  of  Books,  Stationary, &c.  Lately  im- 
ported from  London,  and  to  be  sold  cheap  for  ready 
Money,  ...  At  the  Printing-Office  near  the  Court- 
House,  Among  which  are  .  .  .  The  Whole  Duty  of 
Man,  Watts  Miscellanies ,  .  .  .  Hymns  and  Lyric 
Poems  .  .  .  Conduct  of  a  Married  Life,  Ovid's  Art 
of  Love,  Young's  Night  Thoughts  .  .  .  Testaments, 
Spelling  Books,  Psalters  .  .  .  and  a  few  select  Plays. 
.  .  .  Also,  a  few  elegant  Pictures,  <i;/z.  of  His  Majesty 
King  George  IIL  and  his  Royal  Consort  Queen 
Charlotte;  the  great  Mr.  Pitt,  and  the  immortal 
General  Wolfe.  Also,  a  few  Boxes  of  Powder  for  the 
Preservation  of  the  Teeth;  much  esteemed  by 
Ladies." 

However  profitable   the   printing-business  as  a 


Portrait  of  William  Goddard 

From  a  reproduction  of  the  original  portrait  owned  by 
the  late  Col.  William  Goddard. 


a^/.aaoO  maijjiV/  1.0  TiAfnuol 

■{d  i  I  noq  [fifiigho  sffj  !o  nobauboiqai  e  moi'i 

.biishboO  mfiilliW  .loO  sJbI  oHj 


The  Colonial  Town        3 1 7 

whole  may  have  been,  it  is  but  too  evident  that  the 
newspaper  department  did  not  pay  its  way.  Ap- 
peals for  the  payment  of  dilatory  subscriptions  begin 
to  appear  in  its  columns  by  the  end  of  the  first  six 
months.  When  to  this  perennial  setback  was  added 
the  burden  of  stamp  duties,  —  which  if  paid  drew 
down  public  execration  on  the  head  of  the  editor,  and 
if  unpaid  exposed  him  to  prosecution  on  the  part  of 
the  Crown,  —  William  Goddard  withdrew  himself 
and  his  news-sheet  from  the  debatable  ground  by 
suspending  publication  for  six  months.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  the  Stamp  Act  had  been  repealed  — 
over  a  year  later  —  that  the  paper  reappeared,  and 
this  time  under  the  auspices  of  another  publishing 
firm,  —  that  of  Sarah  Goddard  and  Company.  Its 
pioneer  editor  had  already  found  a  business  opening 
in  New  York.  From  there  he  went  to  Philadelphia, 
where,  in  1768,  his  mother  joined  him.  From  1773 
to  1792,  Mr.  Goddard  published  a  semi-weekly  paper 
in  Baltimore. 

It  must  not  be  thought  for  a  moment  that  these 
years  of  absence  were  years  of  forgetfulness.  There 
were  frequent  visits  to  Providence  quite  unconnected 
with  newspaper  items  and  exchanges,  until,  indeed, 
we  come  to  an  item  chronicled  under  the  date  of  May 
27,  1786,  to  the  following  effect:  ** Thursday  last  was 
married  at  Cranston  .  .  .  William  Goddard,  Es- 
quire, of  Baltimore,  Printer,  to  Miss  Abigail  Angell, 
eldest  daughter  of  the  late  Brigadier-General  Angell ; 


3 1 8  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

a  Lady  of  great  Merit,  her  mental  Acquirements, 
joined  to  a  most  amiable  Disposition,  being  highly 
honourable  to  the  Sex,  and  are  pleasing  Presages  of 
connubial  Felicity."  "Brigadier-General  Angell's" 
earlier  career  as  town-clerk  and  justice  of  the  peace  in 
Providence  is  better  known  than  his  military  experi- 
ences, and  probably  furnishes  quite  as  strong  a  claim 
to  the  respect  of  posterity.  He  was  a  man  of  upright 
character  and  his  public  no  less  than  his  private  ca- 
reer was  marked  by  independence  and  probity.  Six 
years  after  his  marriage  William  Goddard  returned 
to  Rhode  Island.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was 
passed  on  his  farm  in  Johnston,  where  was  born  his 
son,  William  Giles  Goddard,  the  future  Professor  of 
Belles-Lettres  in  Brown  University. 

As  for  the  Providence  Gazette,  after  the  "Com- 
pany" became  embodied  in  the  person  of  the  admir- 
able and  sagacious  John  Carter,  of  Philadelphia,  the 
little  news-sheet  entered  on  a  creditable,  permanent, 
and  fairly  prosperous  career.  This  change  was 
effected  in  1768.  Carter,  who  had  learned  his  trade 
of  the  shrewd  and  practical  Benjamin  Franklin,  was 
a  young  man  of  twenty-two  when  he  came  from 
Philadelphia  to  Providence,  in  1767.  His  mother 
was  left  a  widow  but  a  few  months  before  the  birth 
of  this  son,  the  youngest  of  her  five  children.  His 
father  was  an  Irishman,  who  was  killed  in  a  naval 
battle  of  the  war  of  1745.  The  son  was  *a  man  of 
considerable  acumen,  well  trained  for  his  business, 


The  Colonial  Town        3 1 9 

— as  might  be  expected,  —  and  possessed  of  that 
choleric  and  generous-hearted  temperament  that  so 
frequently  characterizes  the  Irish-American.  He 
retained  "the  sign  of  Shakespear's  Head,"  which  had 
served  to  mark  his  predecessor's  calling,  but  the 
selection  of  a  permanent  place  of  business  was  evi- 
dently fraught  with  difficulty.  It  was  not  until  sev- 
eral changes  had  been  made,  that  the  combined 
printing  and  post-office  was  "  removed  to  Meeting 
Street,  nearly  opposite  the  Friends  Meeting  House," 
where  its  whilom  domicile  may  be  seen  to-day. 

Carter's  house  was  next  door  to  his  brother-in-law. 
Captain  John  Updike.  Both  men  were  of  that  assert- 
ive type  of  character  which  rather  courts  than  avoids 
the  candid  expression  of  any  difference  of  opinion. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  when  in  late  years 
Captain  Updike  rented  his  empty  shop,  close  by,  to  a 
rival  printer,  Mr.  Carter's  emphatic  protests  brought 
forth  lively  rejoinders  from  the  Captain,  nor  can  we 
doubt  that  the  resulting  tempest  made  the  neighbor- 
hood teapot  an  exhilarating  theme  of  discussion  for 
the  time  being.  John  Carter's  daughter  Ann  mar- 
ried Nicholas  Brown,  the  son  of  our  old  friend 
Nicholas,  —  but  those  are  the  chronicles  of  a  later 
generation. 

John  Carter's  "sign  of  Shakespeare's  Head" 
topped  a  post  some  six  or  eight  feet  in  height,  which 
stood  before  the  house,  and  symbolized  the  treasures 
of  literature  to  be  found  within. 


3  2  o  Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

The  majority  of  the  many  and  diverse  signs,  used 
by  the  contemporaries  of  John  Carter  to  lure  the 
passing  customer  across  the  threshold,  were  sus- 
pended from  a  crossbeam  thrust  into  the  wall,  and  pro- 
jecting over  the  doorway.  Another  variation  is  seen  in 
the  "  Sign  of  the  Brazen  Lion,"  at  the  North  End  of  the 
town,  where  the  king  of  beasts,  most  preposterously 
reclining  in  midair,  is  suspended  from  a  veritable 
gallows-tree,  by  means  of  chains  attached  to  his  back. 

A  neighboring  shop  belonged  to  "  Robert  Perrigo, 
Cordwainer,"  who  displayed  the  "Sign  of  the  Boot," 
and  declared  himself  competent  to  make  boots  and 
shoes  "after  the  neatest  and  most  genteel  Manner, 
which  he  sells  very  reasonable."  He  was  also  pro- 
vided with  "the  best  of  Butter  to  sell  by  the  small 
Quantity." 

Captain  Joseph  Olney,  likewise  of  the  North  End, 
offered  for  sale  at  the  "Sign  of  the  Golden  Ball," 
"Hardware  and  Rum,  and  Other  equally  well  as- 
sorted Merchandize,"  while  Nathaniel  Balch,  at  the 
"Sign  of  the  Hat,  near  Captain  Joseph  Olney's," 
sold  stoneware  and  decanters,  "pipes  pepper,  spices, 
&c.,  Cheshire  cheese,  also  hats,  flour,  chocolate,  .  .  . 
also  a  few  lottery  tickets."  He  made  a  specialty  of 
"Women's  very  neat  Lynn  Shoes  .  .  .  at  6j-.  8^.  by 
the  single  Pair,  and  cheaper  by  the  Quantity."  Balch 
was  one  of  that  group  of  beaux  among  whom  Moses 
Brown,  Jabez  Bowen,  and  Jonathan  Clarke  were 
conspicuous. 


Shakespeare's  Head  (now  21  Meeting  Street) 

The  printing  office,  post-office  and  residence  of  John 
Carter,  where  the  Providence  Gazette  was  printed  after 
1772.  The  house  beyond  is  the  Updike  House.  From  a 
photograph,  taken  in  191 1,  by  Willis  A.  Dean. 


nif  iffto  gnijniiq  oriT 

nrrni!  f  ei  bnoyod -jeaorl  srfT   .s^\i 


The  Colonial  Town        3  2 1 

Others  utilized  the  well-known  landmarks  of  the 
town.  Darius  Sessions  —  better  known  perhaps  as 
Deputy-Governor  Sessions — described  his  shop  as 
'*on  the  Main  Street  between  the  Court-House  and 
the  Church,  and  directly  opposite  the  large  Button- 
Wood  Tree."  There  he  was  ready  to  supply  "New 
Milk,  Cheese,  Choice  French  Brandy,  Holland  Ge- 
neva, Cordial  Waters,  and  Sundry  Sorts  of  Wines," 
together  with  "a  general  Assortment  of  West  India 
Goods,  Grocery,  and  many  other  Articles." 

A  little  south  of  the  Deputy  Governor,  Clark  and 
Nightingale  advertised  "a  large  Assortment  of  Eng- 
lish and  India  Piece  Goods ;  Likewise  Stationary  and 
Hard  Ware  ...  at  their  Shop,  newly  opened,  at  the 
Sign  of  the  Frying-Pan  and  Fish,  adjoining  to  the 
North-West  Corner  of  the  Court-House  Lot,  and 
opposite  Oliver  Arnold,  Esquire."  The  junior  mem- 
ber of  this  firm  was  Joseph  Nightingale,  a  younger 
son  of  Samuel,  of  Concord  Distil  House  fame.  Some 
years  later  the  firm  removed  to  the  south  of  the  Town 
Parade,  and  the  partners  built  for  themselves  man- 
sion-houses on  "the  new  Street,  called  Back,  or 
Benefit."  Joseph  Nightingale's  house  was  sold  after 
his  death,  in  1797,  and  is  to-day  known  by  the  name 
of  its  new  owner  as  the  "John  Carter  Brown  House." 

"  Oliver  Arnold,  Esquire,"  who  was  so  universally 
known  as  to  serve  his  fellow-townsmen  in  the  capac- 
ity of  landmark  as  well  as  that  of  legal  adviser,  died 
two  years  after  the  date  of  the  advertisement  just 


32  2  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

quoted,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five.  He  was  a 
brilliant  member  of  the  group  of  able  lawyers  who 
flourished  in  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  during  these 
busy  days  of  litigation,  when  the  man  without  a  law- 
suit on  his  hands  would  have  been  as  rarely  found 
as  the  white  blackbird.  If  no  quarrel  worthy  of  a 
lawyer's  fee  was  available,  it  was  always  possible  — 
in  Rhode  Island  —  to  sue,  or  be  sued,  for  debt.  The 
early  death  of  so  promising  a  member  of  the  legal 
profession  was  universally  deplored.  Not  content 
with  an  unusually  laudatory  obituary,  couched  in 
terms  of  sufficiently  complimentary  prose,  one  ad- 
mirer resorted  to  poetry  to  express  his  feelings,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  series  of  couplets  informed  his  readers 
that, — 

With  Virtue,  Learning,  Wit  and  Worth  combin'd, 
Benev'lence  warm'd  his  Breast  and  fir'd  his  Mind; 
Unmoved  by  Prejudice,  unbrib'd  by  Gold, 
Justice  he  sought,  in  conscious  Virtue  Bold  — 

Correct  with  Spirit,  eloquent  with  Ease, 

Intent  to  reason,  or  polite  to  please: 

Persuasive  Eloquence  sat  on  his  Tongue, 

While  he  the  Right  approv'd,  condemn'd  the  Wrong. 

Emotions  other  than  those  of  unmixed  regret  act- 
uated Oliver  Arnold's  fellow-townsman,  John  Cole, 
who  at  once  put  an  advertisement  into  the  Gazette^ 
to  say  that  "as  several  Gentlemen  of  the  Law  have 
lately  removed  from  Providence  and  as  there  is  now 
another  Vacancy  at  the  Bar,  by  the  Death  of  the 
late  worthy  and  ingenious  Oliver  Arnold,  Esquire, 


The  Colonial  Town        323 

the  Subscriber  proposes  undertaking  the  Practice  of 
the  Law,  a  Business  to  which  he  was  brought  up." 

This  worthy  "Subscriber,"  who  came  from  Wick- 
ford  to  Providence,  was  a  descendant  of  Anne 
Hutchinson,  and  may  have  acquired  his  own  "  very 
voluble  tongue"  from  that  distinguished  ancestress. 
He  was  an  educated  man,  well  grounded  in  the 
classics,  and  well  equipped  for  his  chosen  profession 
of  the  law  by  a  course  of  study  in  the  office  of  Daniel 
Updike,  the  attorney-general  for  the  colony.  With 
that  due  regard  for  precedent  and  custom  which 
becomes  a  legal  mind,  John  Cole  married  his  patron's 
daughter,  and  shortly  afterward  came  to  Providence. 
He  soon  made  a  name  for  himself  in  his  chosen  pro- 
fession, and  employed  his  extra-legal  moments  in 
trading  in  real  estate,  and  handling  cordage.  His 
holdings  at  Tockwotton  became  really  extensive. 
There  he  bought  a  one-half  interest  in  a  ropewalk, 
and  there  he  built  for  himself  a  house  of  "five  Rooms 
on  a  Floor"  and  laid  out  "a  handsom  Garden"  on 
what  is  now  Cole  Street,  just  beyond  East  Street. 
Cole  describes  his  estate  as  "  For  a  pleasant  Situation 
and  extensive  Prospect  .  .  .  inferior  to  no  Place 
whatever,  as  one  may  stand  at  the  Door,  and  take  a 
View  of  the  Bay  and  River  from  Rhode-Island  to 
Providence." 

As  to-day  we  stand  in  Tockwotton  Park  and  force 
imagination  to  eliminate  from  the  scene  the  un- 
sightly coal-wharves  and  gasometers  that  disfigure 


324  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

one  of  the  most  naturally  beautiful  spots  in  Provi- 
dence, it  is  not  difficult  to  realize  the  truth  of  John 
Cole's  description,  one  hundred  and  fifty-odd  years 
ago.  The  ropewalk  was  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  present  Hope  and  Cole  Streets. 

In  1769,  John  Cole  was  appointed  postmaster  in 
Providence  *'in  the  Room  of  Mr.  William  Goddard." 
His  somewhat  disorderly  habits  led  to  frequent  in- 
convenience in  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  letters. 
When,  in  a  hurried  departure  for  the  circuit  courts, 
the  busy  lawyer  rode  out  of  town,  carrying  with  him 
in  a  fit  of  absent-mindedness  the  incoming  mail  for 
the  current  week,  even  the  long-suffering  Providence 
public  raised  a  voice  of  protest.  Cole's  incumbency 
was  succeeded  by  the  more  satisfactory  one  of  John 
Carter,  who  for  two  years  labored  in  vain  to  extract 
from  the  dilatory  and  migratory  Cole  the  books  and 
forms  pertaining  to  his  office,  which  he  was  "in 
daily  expectation  of  receiving,"  says  Inspector  Hugh 
Finlay,  in  his  official  report.  Having  profitably 
passed  the  Sundays  of  his  youth  under  the  ministra- 
tions of  good  Doctor  McSparran,  Cole  attached  him- 
self to  King's  Church  on  coming  to  Providence,  and 
gave  that  society  his  hearty  support.  His  career  was 
marked  by  prosperity  and  success.  He  became  chief 
justice  of  the  superior  court  and  a  leading  politician. 
He  was  especially  active  in  the  Revolutionary  cause. 
He  died  in  1777,  at  the  inoculation  hospital  then 
recently  established  in  North  Providence. 


The  Colonial  Town        325 

"Nearly  opposite"  the  firm  of  Clark  and  Nightin- 
gale, on  the  Towne  Street,  was  Knight  Dexter,  a 
shopkeeper  of  trading  instincts  inherited  from  both 
father  and  grandfather.  At  the  "Sign  of  the  Boy  and 
Book,"  he  sold  a  well-selected  assortment  of  dry 
goods  whose  very  names  have  become  obsolete. 
There  were  "Shalloons, Tammies,  Sagathees, Thick- 
setts,  Taffaties  and  Persians;  Allopeens,  Calliman- 
coes,  red  and  blue  Duffils,  black  and  blue  Everlast- 
ings," as  well  as  "London  Pewter,  Spelling-Books 
and  Inkpots;  Allspice,  Copperas,  and  Log- Wood." 
A  little  later,  when  the  summer  sun  had  dried  the 
fords  and  mud-holes,  Mr.  Dexter  extended  the  scope 
of  his  business  operations  to  include  "a  Number  of 
good  Horses  and  genteel  Carriages,  for  the  Use  of 
Gentlemen  and  Ladies,  whether  for  long  Journies, 
little  rural  Sallies,  or  grand  Parties  of  Pleasure, 
equipped  on  the  shortest  Notice,  and  at  a  very  mod- 
erate Rate."  Mr.  Dexter's  farm  occupied  the  land 
now  held  by  the  Dexter  Asylum,  so  called  in  remem- 
brance of  his  son  Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter,  who 
donated  the  property  to  the  city  of  Providence. 

Close  by  Knight  Dexter's  shop  was  the  popular 
tavern  of  Richard  Olney,  rechristened  the  "Crown 
Coffee  House,"  the  better  to  keep  abreast  of  the 
times.  From  this  centre  of  activity  the  stage-coach 
was  advertised  to  set  out  every  Tuesday  morning  for 
Boston.  This  public  accommodation  was  due  to  the 
enterprise  of  Thomas  Sabin.  Smith  and  Sabin  kept 


326  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

a  shop  "at  the  Sign  of  the  Suhan's  Head,  near  the 
East  End  of  the  Great  Bridge,"  where  were  sold  "dry 
Goods,  both  East  and  West-Indian,  at  the  lowest 
Rates." 

A  short  distance  around  the  corner  from  Smith  and 
Sabin,  and  just  beyond  the  old  wading-place,  was  the 
shop  where,  "At  the  Sign  of  the  Elephant,"  James 
Green  sold  "A  Large  and  Compleat  Assortment  of 
Braziery,  English  Piece  Goods,  Rum,  Flax,  Indigo, 
and  Tea." 

Still  farther  north,  at  the  point  where  now  the 
railway  tunnel  enters  the  hillside,  was  the  "Sign  of 
the  Golden  Eagle."  Here  Joseph  and  William  Rus- 
sell offered  to  the  subscribers  to  the  Gazette  "Velvets, 
Broadcloths,  superfine,  of  scarlet  for  Men's  and 
Women's  long  Cloaks";  also  paper,  looking-glasses, 
and  books.  Four  years  later,  their  offer  of  laces, 
buttons,  firesets,  hinges,  powder-horns,  indigo,  and 
grindstones  is  enforced  by  an  appeal  to  local  patri- 
otism: "As  we  lay  out  our  Money  chiefly  in  this 
Town  and  Country  round,  and  as  others  send  the 
greatest  Part  they  receive  out  of  the  Government,  to 
the  great  Detriment  of  this  Colony  and  of  this  Town 
in  particular ;  we  doubt  not  but  the  People  among 
us  .  .  .  will  give  us  the  Preference." 

Joseph  and  William  Russell  were  sons  of  a  worthy 
Boston  merchant,  Thomas  Russell  by  name.  The 
boys  of  the  family  came  to  Providence  in  or  about 
the  year  1752,  when  Joseph  was  twenty  years  of  age, 


The  Colonial  Town         327 

and  William  thirteen.  They  settled  on  the  West  Side 
of  the  river,  where  within  the  previous  ten  years  more 
improvements  had  been  set  on  foot  than  the  East 
Side  had  tolerated  in  as  many  decades.  The  Boston 
pioneers  proved  themselves  men  of  substance,  if  not 
of  years.  By  1759  they  were  owners  of  a  shop  and 
v/harf  on  a  portion  of  the  land  now  occupied  by  the 
Banigan  Building.  A  few  years  later  the  shop  and  its 
proprietors  moved  to  the  East  Side,  where  they  be- 
came identified  with  the  Sign  "of  the  Golden  Eagle," 
on  the  Towne  Street. 

Other  immigrants  from  the  Russell  roof-tree  ar- 
rived in  Providence.  A  younger  brother,  Jonathan, 
put  in  an  appearance  in  or  near  1770,  bought  some 
land  on  the  West  Side,  and  set  up  a  shop  there  "at 
the  Sign  of  the  Black-Boy,  opposite  to  Captain 
George  Jackson's,"  where  he  sold  "at  the  most 
reasonable  Rate  for  Cash  A  neat  Assortment  of 
European  &  other  Goods  —  Choice  West-India  & 
New-England  Rum,  Sugar,  Flour,  Indigo,  Tea, 
Coffee,  &c." 

John  —  the  second  son  —  had  already  identified 
himself  with  a  shipyard  where  were  built,  we  may 
assume,  such  vessels  as  the  ship  Nancy,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  tons  burden,  which  was  purchased 
by  Nicholas  Brown  and  Company  of  Joseph  and 
William  Russell,  in  1764.  Joseph  and  William  Rus- 
sell appear  to  have  owned  the  first  ships  which 
cleared  from  Providence  for  London.    The  snow 


328  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Tristram  Shandy  and  her  cargoes  called  fordi  many 
an  expansive  advertisement  in  the  newspaper  issues 
of  the  sixties.  These  brothers  were  associated  in  their 
family  and  business  life  until  Joseph's  death,  in  1792. 

During  the  unsettled  days  of  the  Revolutionary 
period,  when  the  British  from  their  base  at  Newport 
harassed  the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay  as  the 
whim  of  the  moment  dictated,  and  Providence  was 
filled  with  poverty-stricken  refugees,  many  a  pru- 
dent and  patriotic  citizen  removed  his  family  and 
his  valuables  to  some  farm  in  the  back  country,  or 
to  some  inland  town  less  readily  accessible  from  the 
enemy's  headquarters.  It  was  during  this  time  of 
uncertainty  and  anxiety  that  Joseph  Russell  bought 
a  farm  among  the  hills  of  Woodstock,  Connecticut, 
and  the  attractions  of  that  beautiful  countryside 
proved  sufficiently  potent  to  prevent  a  permanent 
residence  in  Providence  after  the  war's  alarms  had 
died  away.  He  died  at  Woodstock,  a  comparatively 
young  man,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age.  His 
obituary  chronicles  among  other  items  that  he  was  "a 
Trustee  of  the  College  in  this  Town,  and  had  filled 
the  Office  of  a  Magistrate  in  this  State.  As  a  Man 
of  Business,  he  was  industrious  and  punctual ;  as 
a  Christian,  a  regular  Observer  of  public  Worship 
in  the  Episcopal  Church." 

Out  of  his  family  of  eleven  children  three  daugh- 
ters survived  him.  His  oldest  son  Joseph,  who  is  pro- 
nounced by  John  Howland  "one  of  the  handsomest 


The  Colonial  Town        329 

young  men  in  town,"  lived  to  the  age  of  thirty  and 
married  Joana  Jenckes,  the  daughter  of  our  old 
acquaintance  the  lieutenant-governor.  The  morbidly 
pathetic  story  of  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  who 
mourned  her  brilliant  young  lover  in  seclusion  for 
nine  years,  and  followed  him  to  the  grave  when  she 
was  thirty-three,  may  be  read  in  Updike's  Memoirs 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Bar.  The  twin  daughters  who 
died  in  girlhood  attract  our  attention  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  they  were  christened  Hayley  and 
Hopkins,  obviously  to  commemorate  the  London 
firm  of  that  name,  to  whom  the  Russells,  and  also 
the  Browns,  made  frequent  consignments.  It  is  some- 
what unusual  to  find  so  conspicuous  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  past  favors  in  the  annals  of  an  importing- 
house. 

William  Russell  never  married.  After  the  death  of 
his  brother  Joseph,  he  returned  to  the  Providence 
house  on  the  Towne  Street,  and  lived  there  until  his 
own  death,  in  1825.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  he  was  commanding  officer  of  the 
Providence  Cadets,  and  throughout  his  long  life  was 
always  known  as  Colonel  Russell.  Six  years  before 
his  death,  and  shortly  after  the  passing  of  his  eight- 
ieth birthday.  Colonel  Russell  wrote  to  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Crocker,  of  St.  John's  Church  (formerly  King's 
Church),  to  say  that,  while  he  was  a  Baptist  from 
principle  he  was  "not  a  stiff,  rigid  one,"  and  that  his 
*'iate,  never  to  be  forgotten  Brother  Mr.  Joseph  Rus- 


3  30  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

sell  .  .  .  and  his  large  family  were  of  your  Society 
—  and  in  his  day  a  piller  of  your  Church.  All  his 
numerous  of-spring  are  so  also  —  as  are  most  of  my 
other  relatives.  They  are  right  —  and  I  am  right  — 
if  we  from  the  heart  really  think  so.  Perhaps  it  may 
be  tho't  a  little  singular  by  some  few  of  our  Society 
that  I  should  leave  behind  me  a  request  to  have  the 
Church  funeral  service,  read  over  my  Grave,  when  I 
am  gone.  But  Sir  I  do  request  it,  provided  there  is  no 
impropriety  in  its  being  done  to  one  of  another  So- 
ciety, this  you  are  a  judge  of,  as  it  respects  myself  it 
can  do  little,  or  rather  no  Good.  But  as  I  shall  leave 
behind  me  many  relatives  of  your  Society,  it  prob- 
ably will  be  Gratifying  to  'em  to  have  the  Church 
fun'l  service  read  over  my  Grave,  and  that  Sir  is  my 
motive  for  wishing  it  done." 

No  one  can  read  these  words  of  kindly  considera- 
tion for  others  and  not  look  with  a  more  sympathetic 
interest  on  the  monument  in  St.  John's  burial- 
ground,  erected  in  memory  of  Joseph  and  William, 
"Brothers  and  Partners  in  Trade  Who  lived  to- 
gether Thirty  years  with  the  most  endearing  love, 
affection,  and  real  friendship  Till  Death  separated 
them  for  a  short  period.  As  in  their  lives  they  were 
most  happily  connected  —  so  doth  their  Ashes  now 
sweetly  sleep  together  in  this  same  grave,  till  the 
Trump  of  God  shall  call  them  to  awake." 

The  remaining  brothers  of  the  house  of  Russell  — 
John,  Jonathan,  and  Thomas  —  were  all  so  fortunate 


The  Colonial  Town        3  3 1 

as  to  leave  heirs  to  perpetuate  their  name  and  fame. 
John  served  as  commissary  during  part  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  He  lived  on  Benefit  Street,  at  the  foot 
of  Dorr's  Hill.  A  more  interesting  personality  is  that 
of  his  son  William.  The  boy  was  a  born  sailor,  and 
must  have  given  evidence  of  the  fact  at  a  tender  age, 
for  when  eighteen  he  was  put  in  command  of  an 
East-Indiaman.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  long 
and  prosperous  nautical  career.  For  twenty-four 
years  Captain  Russell  "ploughed  the  ocean  wave" 
between  Providence  and  the  ports  of  India  and 
China,  to  the  unalloyed  satisfaction  of  all  immedi- 
ately concerned. 

Jonathan  Russell,  of  the  shop  on  the  West  Side,  at 
the  "Sign  of  the  Black  Boy,"  withdrew  to  enjoy  the 
serene  pleasures  of  a  rural  life  at  Mendon,  Massa- 
chusetts, after  the  virtual  destruction  of  the  business 
of  Providence  consequent  upon  the  appearance  of 
our  English  cousins  in  Newport.  His  son  —  subse- 
quently the  Honorable  Jonathan  Russell  —  was  of 
those  on  whom  greatness  may  be  truly  said  to  be 
thrust.  The  boy  —  a  bright,  talented  young  fellow 
—  came  to  Providence  to  study  law.  His  hopes  of 
success  in  this  field  were  quenched  since  it  proved 
impossible  for  him  to  speak  without  notes,  and  the 
young  man  became  a  merchant.  When  he  was  serv- 
ing as  supercargo  on  board  a  vessel  bound  to  some 
European  port,  the  ship  was  seized  by  a  French 
cruiser  and  taken  into  Copenhagen.  It  proved  some- 


3  3  2  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

what  difficult  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  those  in 
authority  the  claims  of  neutrals  to  be  treated  with 
respect,  and  Russell  at  length  proceeded  to  Paris  in 
order  to  obtain  the  help  and  protection  of  the  Amer- 
ican Minister  there,  —  General  Armstrong.  This 
move  proved  effective,  and  as  matters  dragged  their 
diplomatic  length  across  the  stage  of  French  politics, 
the  Minister  became  so  much  impressed  with  his 
young  countryman's  tact  and  ability  that  on  his  own 
return  to  America  he  persuaded  Russell  to  remain  in 
Paris,  in  charge  of  American  interests.  His  choice 
of  a  substitute  was  vindicated.  Russell  acquitted 
himself  with  credit,  and  served  as  one  of  the  com- 
missioners to  conclude  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  at  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812.  The  political  career  for 
which  these  events  so  admirably  prepared  the  way 
eluded  the  poor  man's  grasp  even  as  his  hand  seemed 
about  to  close  upon  it.  On  his  return  to  America  he 
was  at  once  sent  to  Congress,  but  his  inherent  inabil- 
ity to  speak  in  public  prevented  his  becoming  more 
than  a  voting  member. 

The  youngest  of  the  Russell  contingent  who  came 
to  Providence  in  pre-Revolutionary  times  was 
Thomas  of  that  name.  He  was  a  half-brother  of 
Joseph,  William,  John  and  Jonathan,  and  the  junior 
by  seventeen  years  of  the  youngest  of  this  first  group. 
He  and  his  sister  Elizabeth  —  one  year  the  older  of 
the  two  —  came  to  live  with  Brother  Jonathan  when 
quite  young,  —  not  improbably  after  their  mother's 


The  Colonial  Town         3  3  3 

second  marriage.  Their  father  died  in  1760.  John 
Howland  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  Httle 
Tommy  Russell  tended  shop  for  his  big  brother. 
"He  was  a  bright,  active  lad,"  says  Howland;  "he 
was  about  my  own  age,  and  we  spent  many  evenings 
together."  When  Brother  Jonathan  moved  to  Men- 
don,  Tommy  became  a  lieutenant  in  the  Continental 
Army.  He  saw  service  in  several  Hudson  River 
campaigns,  and  took  part  in  the  action  of  1778  under 
Sullivan,  when  the  pursuing  British  were  repulsed  by 
the  rear  guard  of  the  American  forces  in  the  so- 
called  Battle  of  Rhode  Island. 

In  November,  1779,  our  young  military  hero  was 
appointed  aid  to  General  Stark  with  the  rank  of 
major.  His  subsequent  experience  serves  as  one 
more  illustration  of  the  well-worn  maxim  that  bad 
luck  on  the  battle-field  may  be  compensated  by 
victories  elsewhere.  John  Howland  describes  the 
gallant  Russell  as  "a  young  man  of  good  capacity 
and  handsome  address."  Thus  equipped  for  action 
it  is  small  wonder  that  the  young  officer  laid  success- 
ful siege  to  the  heart  of  Miss  Ann  Handy,  of  New- 
port, the  sister  of  his  friend.  Major  Handy,  whose 
company  had  helped  to  cheer  the  vicissitudes  of  a 
soldier's  life  during  the  dreary  years  of  the  seventies. 
At  the  close  of  his  career  as  a  soldier,  our  veteran 
made  his  home  in  Philadelphia  for  a  few  years. 
Thence  he  removed  to  Newport,  to  enter  on  a  long 
and  successful  career  as  merchant  and  ship-owner  in 


3  34  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

the  China  trade.  A  detailed  account  of  the  interest- 
ing and  honorable  career  of  Charles  Handy  Russell, 
the  son  of  Thomas,  would  carry  us  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  volume. 

Thomas's  sister  Elizabeth,  who  came  with  him  to 
Providence  in  the  days  before  the  Revolutionary 
War  clouds  were  fairly  above  the  horizon,  was 
destined  to  follow  their  course  with  anxious  interest 
in  the  years  to  come.  In  1777  she  married  Doctor 
Solomon  Drowne,  of  Providence,  "  an  eloquent  and 
learned  man,"  and  a  young  surgeon  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary Army,  whose  professional  duties  took  him 
far  afield  for  four  long  weary  years.  His  course  in 
medicine  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  was 
supplemented,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  by  work  in 
the  hospitals  and  medical  schools  of  Holland  and 
France.  President  Manning,  of  Rhode  Island  Col- 
lege, describes  him  as  "a  gendeman  of  remarkable 
modesty,  ...  a  member  of  the  Corporation,  and  of 
unblemished  character,  on  whose  information  you 
may  safely  rely."  The  later  years  of  his  life  were 
passed  at  his  home,  well  known  as  Mount  Hygeia,  in 
Foster,  Rhode  Island.  There  were  his  famed  botani- 
cal gardens,  whose  reputation  lost  nothing,  we  may 
be  sure,  from  their  somewhat  inaccessible  situation. 


Chapter   IX 


RHODE  ISLAND  COLLEGE  AND  THE 
"BAPTIST  CATHEDRAL" 

IN  the  fall  of  1762  James  Manning,  then  a  young 
man  of  twenty-four,  was  graduated  from  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  commonly  called  Prince- 
ton College.  In  the  course  of  the  next  six  months  he 
was  licensed  by  the  Baptist  church  at  Scotch  Plains, 
New  Jersey,  to  ''preach  publicly,"  and  further 
recommended  "as  one  sound,  regular,  and  qualified 
to  preach  the  Gospel."  Armed  with  these  credentials 
he  set  out  on  his  long  and  successful  career  as 
preacher,  teacher,  and  administrator,  pausing  only 
for  the  final  measure  of  preparation  for  the  journey 
of  life  —  his  marriage  with  Margaret  Stites,  of 
Elizabeth  town.  This  event  was  speedily  followed  by 
the  young  minister's  public  ordination,  and  that  in 
turn  by  his  departure  for  the  unexpected  field  of 
labor  which,  as  the  event  proved,  was  awaiting  him 
in  the  Providence  Plantation. 

In  the  early  summer  he  took  passage  for  Halifax, 
intending  to  travel  slowly  homeward  through  New 
England  and  the  Middle  Colonies,  and  to  acquaint 
himself  at  first  hand  with  the  religious  prospects  of 
the  Baptist  denomination  in  those  parts.  On  the  trip 
north  the  vessel   touched  at  Newport,  and   there 


336  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

young  Manning  found  opportunity  to  put  in  a  word 
or  two  respecting  the  "apprehension"  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Association  of  Baptists  that  **it  was  practi- 
cable and  expedient  to  erect  a  college  in  the  colony 
of  Rhode  Island,  under  the  chief  direction  of  the 
Baptists."  Several  gentlemen  were  interviewed  "re- 
lative to  a  Seminary  of  Polite  Literature,"  and  the 
suggestion  was  met  with  prompt  approval  by  the 
Newport  magnates.  A  special  meeting  of  the  breth- 
ren was  devoted  to  the  subject,  and  Josias  Lyndon 
and  Colonel  Job  Bennet  were  appointed  to  draw  up  a 
charter  of  incorporation  for  presentation  to  the  next 
General  Assembly. 

The  time  was  short.  It  was  already  July,  and  the 
Assembly  met,  by  adjournment,  in  August.  The 
committee  was  somewhat  uncertain  as  to  the  requi- 
site forms  and  phrases,  and  "pleading  unskilfulness 
.  .  .  requested  that  their  trusty  friend,  Reverend 
Ezra  Stiles,  might  be  solicited  to  assist  them."  Small 
solicitation  was  required.  The  Reverend  Ezra  Stiles 
is  well  known  to  the  present  generation,  and  was  far 
better  known  to  his  own,  as  a  stanch  Congregational- 
ist,  whose  zeal  for  his  order  would  compare  favorably 
with  that  of  any  mediaeval  churchman.  When  the 
Philistines  of  the  Baptist  denomination  delivered 
themselves  into  his  hands,  as  aforesaid,  he  cheerfully 
acceded  to  their  request,  and  made  adroit  use  of  his 
opportunity.  The  charter  was  forthcoming  on  the 
appointed  day,  was  read  to  the  parties  concerned, 


Portrait  of  James  Manning,  President  of  Brown 
University 

From  an  early  engraving. 


.gnivfiigaa  yhsd  a&  moi'i 


•The  R.^y'}  J  am:w3.  >iAiy  N  1  yo.  i^.  n:  \  j 


a,^€    /ffo'^o/^  ,,////,    .      '^),r/>/'f.>y  (    Af/  rr//     -'//./ 


</>fLp\^i^/    //,,        (    r//,y.         .//      A,  rn/r  //<r  .     g 


'    WA.Vr.A./,,,,/ 


^3 


%hode  Island  College      3  37 

accepted  by  them,  and  sent  for  confirmation  to  the 
Assembly. 

In  the  confusing  array  of  authorities  and  powers 
presented  by  the  document  the  simple-minded 
hearers  had  failed  to  perceive  that  although  the 
majority  of  the  Trustees  were  Baptists,  as  stipulated, 
all  real  power  was  vested  in  the  Fellows,  of  whom 
eight  out  of  twelve  must  be  Congregationalists,  and 
the  other  four  might  be. 

But  when  once  the  document  was  before  the  As- 
sembly, matters  took  a  different  turn.  Our  old 
friend,  Judge  Daniel  Jenckes,  was  deputy  for  Provi- 
dence, and  Jenckes  was  a  good  Baptist,  a  capital 
business  man,  and  no  mean  politician.  In  a  few 
terse  sentences  he  pointed  out  to  the  astonished 
Governor  Lyndon  the  true  tenor  of  the  charter 
drawn  up  by  his  "trusty  friend.  Reverend  Ezra 
Stiles."  Needless  to  say,  the  matter  was  adjourned 
to  the  next  session  of  the  Assembly. 

Not  unnaturally  the  Governor  took  his  clerical 
friend  to  task  for  what  might  well  seem  to  the  irate 
magistrate  a  breach  of  trust.  Doctor  Stiles  is  credited 
with  an  answer  which,  if  not  satisfactory,  was  at  all 
events  sufficiently  explicit,  to  the  effect  that  he  had 
merely  looked  after  the  interests  of  his  own  society, 
and  the  Baptists  might  have  been  expected  to  do  as 
much  for  theirs. 

Meanwhile  new  complications  were  arising  at 
Providence,  whither  Judge  Jenckes  had  taken  the 


3  3  8  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

charter  for  the  enhghtenment  of  all  who  were  inter- 
ested in  the  proposed  "Seminary."  The  Judge's 
house  on  the  Town  Parade  now  became  more  con- 
spicuously than  ever  a  centre  of  information.  His 
son-in-law,  Nicholas  Brown,  the  rising  young  mer- 
chant and  politician,  Nicholas  Cooke,  Rhode  Is- 
land's first  *'war  governor,"  Stephen  Hopkins,  ever 
astute  and  judicious  in  counsel,  and  others  less  well 
known  came  to  see  for  themselves  the  pit  into  which 
they  had  so  nearly  fallen. 

A  near  neighbor  and  good  friend  of  the  Judge's 
was  Doctor  Ephraim  Bowen.  Albeit  a  Congrega- 
tionalist,  he  was  one  of  the  trusted  members  of  the 
little  social  and  business  oligarchy  of  the  town.  His 
son  Jabez  has  frequently  appeared  in  these  pages  as 
an  intimate  friend  of  Moses  Brown,  Nathaniel  Balch, 
George  Hopkins,  the  Wantons  of  Newport,  and  other 
gay  young  sparks  of  the  period.  It  was  not  long  since 
he  had  married  the  daughter  of  Obadiah  Brown.  It 
is  not  strange  that  Doctor  Ephraim  wished  to  read 
the  charter,  nor  that  Judge  Jenckes  lent  him  the 
document.  Quite  naturally,  too,  the  Doctor  passed 
it  on  to  his  fellow-worshipper,  Deacon  Samuel 
Nightingale,  of  the  Congregationalist  Church,  whose 
orthodoxy  was  as  zealous  as  that  of  good  Ezra  Stiles 
himself.  At  this  point  in  its  peregrinations  the 
charter  mysteriously  disappeared.  The  most  rigor- 
ous search  proved  unavailing.  Doctor  Bowen  in- 
quired and  advertised  in  vain,  and  when  the  As- 


%hode  Island  College      3  39 

sembly  met,  the  unfortunate  Judge  Jenckes  found 
himself  a  mark  for  insinuations  of  unfair  play  and 
breach  of  trust,  "which,"  he  says," brought  on  very 
disagreeable  altercations  and  bickerings." 

It  had  already  been  determined  by  those  high  in 
the  counsels  of  the  colony  to  make  a  fresh  start.  New 
members  had  been  added  to  the  committee,  and  in 
the  charter  as  finally  adopted  the  Congregationalists 
found  themselves  in  the  condition  of  the  man  who 
was  bidden  to  take  a  lower  seat.  Manning  has,  him- 
self, given  us  a  statement  of  their  position  :  "  The 
most  material  alterations  were,  appointing  the  same 
number  of  Baptists  in  the  Fellowship  that  had  been 
appointed  of  the  Presbyterians  by  Doctor  Stiles; 
settling  the  presidency  in  the  Baptist  society ;  adding 
three  Baptists  to  the  Trustees,  and  putting  more 
Episcopalians  than  Presbyterians  in  the  Corpora- 
tion." This  readjustment  of  conditions  and  denom- 
inations was  not  concluded  until  the  February  of 
1764,  nor  then  without  a  preliminary  series  of 
charges  and  counter-charges  from  the  opposing 
parties.  Although  the  Reverend  Morgan  Edwards's 
allusion  to  the  charter  as  "a  brand  plucked  from  the 
burning"  had  probably  no  reference  to  the  warmth 
and  vehemence  of  the  preliminary  debates,  it  might 
well  be  so  applied. 

As  for  Doctor  Stiles's  charter,  it  was  by  some  unre- 
corded agency  returned  to  its  author,  and  after  his 
death  was  stored  among  the  church  archives  until 


340  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

well  into  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  now  the  pro- 
perty of  Brown  University. 

Only  a  few  days  before  the  charter  was  granted 
by  the  Assembly,  a  "cry  from  Macedonia"  reached 
the  ears  of  its  pioneer  advocate,  James  Manning. 
This  appeal  for  aid  came  from  Warren,  a  thriving 
little  shipping-town  just  above  the  head  of  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  and  some  ten  miles  down  the  river  from 
Providence.  The  Baptist  contingent  in  this  little 
settlement  was  fairly  prosperous,  and  moved  by  a 
laudable  desire  to  have  a  church  of  their  own,  ex- 
tended to  the  young  aspirant  for  clerical  honors 
"a  call  to  come  over  from  New  Jersey  and  settle 
amongst  them."  The  call  was  accepted.  A  church 
was  built,  and  later  a  parsonage,  and  the  young 
minister  was  fairly  launched  upon  his  long  and 
honorable  career. 

With  an  eye  to  the  interests  of  that  "  Seminary  of 
Polite  Literature"  whose  cause  he  had  so  greatly  at 
heart,  Mr.  Manning  straightway  opened  a  Latin 
School  to  serve  as  a  feeder  to  the  college  when  the 
latter  institution  should  become  an  accomplished 
fact.  His  school  was  immediately  successful,  al- 
though somewhat  hampered  by  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  equipment.  The  necessary  textbooks  were  not 
to  be  found  in  America,  and  must  be  sent  for  to  Lon- 
don. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  master  realized  a  suffi- 
cient commission  on  their  sale  to  eke  out  his  meagre 
tuition  fee  of  three  Spanish  milled  dollars  a  quarter. 


%hode  Island  College      341 

In  September,  1764,  the  "Corporation  for  found- 
ing and  endowing  a  College  .  .  .  within  the  Colony 
of  Rhode  Island"  held  its  first  meeting.  Stephen 
Hopkins  was  elected  chancellor,  the  offices  of  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  were  filled, 1  and  the  requisite 
machinery  for  soliciting  and  receiving  donations  and 
subscriptions  was  set  in  motion.  It  was  not  until  a 
year  later,  at  the  second  meeting  of  the  corporation, 
that  Manning  received  his  comprehensive  appoint- 
ment as  "President  of  the  College,  Professor  of 
Languages  and  other  Branches  of  Learning,  with 
full  Power  to  Act  immediately  in  these  Capacities  at 
Warren  or  Elsewhere." 

Among  the  necessary  formalities  of  collegiate 
equipment  was  the  adoption  of  a  college  seal.  In 
accordance  with  the  resolution  of  the  corporation, 
the  seal  was  ordered  at  Boston,  with  this  device, 
"  Busts  of  the  King  and  Queen  in  profile  face  to  face; 
underneath  George  III,  Charlotte ;  round  the  border 
the  seal  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Provi- 
dence Plantations  in  America."  Impressions  of 
these  sovereigns  as  patrons  of  academic  honors  still 
adorn  the  college  diplomas  of  those  early  years. 2 

The  third  day  of  September,  1765,  marked  an 
eventful  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  infant  "Semi- 
nary." It  was  then  that  William  Rogers,  of  Newport, 

'  Guild,  53. 

^  In  1782  the  old  seal  was  broken  by  order  of  the  corpora- 
tion, and  replaced  by  that  in  use  to-day. 


342  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

aged  fourteen,  was  duly  registered,  —  the  first  stu- 
dent matriculated  at  Rhode  Island  College.  For  nine 
months  and  seventeen  days  thereafter  he  was  priv- 
ileged to  represent  the  entire  undergraduate  body  of 
his  alma  mater. 

In  June,  1766,  the  registration  of  Manning's 
brother-in-law,  Richard  Stites,  increased  the  student 
body  by  one  hundred  per  cent.  In  view  of  this  en- 
couragement the  President  felt  himself  justified  in 
engaging  an  assistant.  He  wrote  at  once  to  David 
Howell,  just  on  the  point  of  graduating  from  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  to  offer  the  suggestion  that  it 
might  be  worth  his  while  to  look  over  the  ground  at 
Warren  before  making  any  definite  arrangement  for 
the  future.  "A  taste  for  Learning,"  wrote  Manning, 
"is  greatly  upon  the  increase  in  this  Colony."  Even 
Providence  had  become  infected  with  the  prevailing 
enthusiasm  when,  a  few  months  before  this,  young 
Benjamin  Stelle,  "of  the  Jersey  College,"  had  ap- 
plied to  Manning  for  advice,  and  for  a  recommenda- 
tion as  a  teacher  of  youth ;  he  was  straightway  intro- 
duced to  Mr.  Manning's  friends  in  Providence,  with 
the  assurance  that  "his  Proficiency  is  ...  as  good 
as  common,  and  his  Character  fair  and  free  from 
blots." 

Within  a  few  months  the  Latin  School  founded  by 
this  promising  candidate  for  pedagogical  honors  was 
filled  to  overflowing,  and  in  the  following  spring  that 
young  pedagogue  felt  warranted  in  breaking  ground 


Diploma  from  Rhode  Island  College  (now  Brown 
University)  1789 

Signed  by  James  Manning,  David  Howell,  Perez  Fobes, 
and  Benjamin  West.  From  original  document  in  the 
Brown  University  Library. 


98^1  (YTig>iaviviU 
sdl  ni  inamuoob  iBnt^ho  moiT    .:- 


%hode  Island  College      343 

in  a  hitherto  neglected  field  of  educational  enter- 
prise. He  proposed,  through  the  columns  of  the 
indispensable  Gazette,  "to  open  a  school  for  the  in- 
struction of  young  ladies,  in  the  knowledge  of  writing 
and  arithmetic."  Two  sessions  a  day  for  a  term  of 
four  months,  beginning  on  the  20th  of  May,  were 
planned.  The  periods  were  not  unduly  long,  but  the 
hours  named  would  effectually  daunt  most  academic 
ambitions  of  the  present  ease-loving  generation. 
They  were  "from  6  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  half 
after  7 ;  and  from  half  after  four  until  half  after  6,  in 
the  afternoon."  Mr.  Stelle  announced  further  that  the 
fee  for  this  tuition  would  be  "two  dollars  for  each 
scholar."  His  proposals  seem  to  have  been  accept- 
able to  the  public  to  whom  he  looked  for  patronage. 
In  October  a  night  school  was  opened  for  "all  Per- 
sons who  have  a  Mind  to  come,  or  send  their  Child- 
ren," and  with  the  beginning  of  the  second  year  a 
course  in  reading  was  added  to  the  curriculum. 

In  the  December  of  this,  his  third  year  in  Provi- 
dence, Benjamin  Stelle  married  Miss  Huldah  Craw- 
ford, in  whom  were  "agreeably  united  the  several 
Accomplishments  which  tend  toward  rendering  the 
nuptial  Bond  easy  and  desireable."  Miss  Huldah 
;tvas  a  sister  of  Susannah  Crawford,  who,  with  her 
enterprising  husband.  Captain  John  Updike,  was 
living  on  the  Towne  Street  in  the  neighborhood 
where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stelle  began  housekeeping. 
When  in  1770,  the  college  itself  and  the  attendant 


344  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Latin  School  were  removed  to  Providence,  our  pio- 
neer schoolmaster  in  that  abode  of  the  illiterate  be- 
took himself  to  other  paths  of  usefulness. 

In  August  of  that  eventful  year  occurred  the  death 
of  the  old  doctor,  Colonel  Jabez  Bowen,  at  the  age  of 
threescore  years  and  fourteen,  —  ''for  a  great  Num- 
ber of  Years  .  .  .  eminent  in  the  Practise  of  Physics 
and  Surgery,"  says  the  Gazette.  Doctor  Jabez  came 
to  Providence  from  Rehoboth  in  the  early  twenties  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  He  was  one  of  the  many  in- 
teresting and  cultivated  men  who  acted  as  leaven 
upon  the  crude  substance  of  our  local  society.  The 
mantle  of  this  skilful  practitioner  fell  upon  the 
shoulders  of  his  nephew  Doctor  Ephraim,  whose 
mansion-house  adorned  the  Parade,  and  whose  son. 
Doctor  Jabez  the  younger,  was  renowned  alike  in  the 
social,  medical,  and  military  circles  of  Rhode  Island 
Colony.  Old  Doctor  Jabez  left  one  son,  Benjamin, 
who  during  the  doctor's  lifetime  managed  the  apoth- 
ecary-shop opposite  the  family  dwelling-house,  and 
whose  most  prominent  claim  to  the  remembrance  of 
posterity  is  the  fact  that  shortly  after  his  father's  death 
he  took  Benjamin  Stelle  into  partnership  in  the  drug 
business.  The  two  men  were  already  joint  owners  of 
a  chocolate-mill,  to  the  evident  satisfaction  of  both 
parties. 

Old  Doctor  Jabez  lived  at  the  foot  of  the  present 
Bowen  Street.  Across  the  way  was  his  "well-known 
Apothecary's  Shop  just  below  the  Church,  at  the 


"RJoode  Island  College      345 

Sign  of  the  Unicorn  and  Mortar."  Benjamin  Bowen 
and  Benjamin  Stelle  offered  for  sale,  in  August,  1770, 
a  full  assortment  of  medicines,  "Chymical  and 
Galenical,"  as  well  as  the  chocolate  with  which  they 
were  wont  to  supply  the  Providence  public,  "  by  the 
Pound,  Box,  or  Hundred-weight." 

It  was,  however,  several  years  previous  to  these 
developments  in  the  career  of  Benjamin  Stelle  that 
David  Howell  received  the  letter  from  President 
Manning,  already  quoted.  He  accepted  its  sugges- 
tion, looked  over  the  ground,  and  was  shortly  in- 
stalled as  tutor  in  the  college  at  Warren.  Thence- 
forth his  interests  and  abilities  were  identified  with 
his  new  home. 

Within  another  twelvemonth  the  members  of  the 
class  of  1769  increased  from  two  to  six,  and  by 
commencement  day  still  another  aspirant  for  aca- 
demic honors  had  appeared  in  the  person  of  James 
Mitchell  Varnum,  lately  of  Harvard.  There  is  cir- 
cumstantial evidence  to  warrant  the  assumption  that 
this  young  man's  career  at  the  older  institution  of 
learning  had  not  commended  him  to  its  college 
authorities.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  assuredly  saw  fit 
to  spend  the  last  year  and  a  half  of  his  college  course 
at  Warren.  His  later  career  as  lawyer,  major-general 
in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress  covers  the  critical  period  of 
Rhode  Island's  history. 

The  first  commencement  exercises  of  Rhode  Island 


346  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

College  were  held  in  the  meeting-house  at  Warren,  on 
September  7,  1769,  before  an  "Audience  consisting 
of  the  principal  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  of  this  Col- 
ony, and  many  from  the  Neighbouring  Govern- 
ments." Although  "large  and  crowded,"  this  august 
assembly  (we  are  told)  "behaved  with  the  utmost 
decorum."  This  encomium  does  not  impress  us  as 
entirely  gratuitous  when  we  pause  to  remember  that 
the  commencement  programme  on  "this  auspicious 
day"  (to  quote  the  valedictorian)  lasted  from  morn 
till  dewy  eve,  being  appropriately  concluded  with  a 
sermon  by  the  Reverend  Morgan  Edwards.  Our 
pioneer  student,  young  William  Rogers,  was  well  to 
the  fore  with  an  oration  on  "Benevolence,"  "in 
which,"  says  the  reporter  for  the  Gazette^  "among 
other  pertinent  Observations,  he  particularly  noticed 
the  Necessity  which  that  Infant  Seminary  stands  in 
for  the  Salutary  Effects  of  that  truly  Christian 
Virtue." 

The  programme  (to  use  our  modern  term)  was  a 
broadside  of  fifteen  by  nineteen  inches,  and  con- 
tained in  addition  to  the  names  of  the  chancellor, 
president,  faculty,  and  members  of  the  graduating 
class,  the  Latin  Salutatory,  and  a  Latin  syllogistic 
dispute.  This  form  of  programme,  with  such  varia- 
tions in  the  Latin  portion  as  could  be  obtained  by  a 
change  of  the  subject  of  discourse,  was  used  until 
1795.  In  that  year  an  "Order  of  Exercises"  in 
English  was  substituted. 


%hode  Island  College      347 

The  first  issue  of  the  commencement  broadside 
called  especial  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  names  of 
the  graduating  class  were  printed  in  alphabetical 
order.  This  was  a  marked  departure  from  the  cus- 
toms of  Harvard  and  Yale,  where  the  students  had 
from  early  colonial  days  been  seated  in  the  order  of 
precedence  to  which  their  social  rank  entitled  them. 
The  "placing"  of  a  class  in  college  under  such  condi- 
tions was  a  delicate  matter,  and  the  claims  of  disap- 
pointed, or  slighted,  students  and  their  friends  were 
no  small  addition  to  the  burdens  resting  on  the  col- 
lege authorities.  Precedence  in  class  carried  with  it 
the  choice  of  rooms  and  the  privilege  of  being  served 
first  at  table. 

Among  the  commencement  announcements  of 
1769  was  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Howell  to  be  pro- 
fessor of  natural  philosophy.  There  is  no  intimation 
of  any  increase  in  his  salary  oi  £']!.  per  annum.  We 
have  Professor  Howell's  own  statement  that  he  not 
only  conducted  the  courses  in  natural  philosophy, 
but  also  "endeavored  to  initiate  my  pupils  in  the 
rudiments  of  classical  learning,  and  instill  into  their 
minds  the  elementary  principles  of  law."  Inas- 
much as,  three  years  later,  the  philosophical  appara- 
tus was  enumerated  as  "a  pair  of  globes,  two  micro- 
scopes, and  an  electrical  machine,"  it  would  seem 
that  the  laboratory  courses  in  that  science  were  not 
exhaustive. 

Public  attention  was  now  drawn  to  the  question  of 


348  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

housing  this  "Seminary  of  Polite  Learning,"  which 
had  enforced  its  claims  to  consideration  by  educating 
and  graduating  a  class  of  young  men.  In  the  words 
of  that  eminent  Baptist,  Morgan  Edwards,  "some 
began  to  hope,  and  many  to  fear,  that  the  Institution 
would  come  to  something  and  stand."  Some  eight 
hundred  pounds  had  been  already  obtained  from 
well-wishers  in  England  and  Ireland  to  erect  a 
college  building  in  Warren,  but  at  this  juncture  of 
affairs  "  some  who  were  unwilling  it  should  be  there, 
and  some  who  were  unwilling  it  should  be  anywhere 
.  .  .  proposed  that  the  County  which  should  raise 
the  most  money  should  have  the  College." 

Existing  rivalries  in  trade  and  politics  lent  all  their 
enthusiasm  to  this  new  competition.  Newport  and 
Providence  strove  to  outdo  one  another,  and  at 
times  it  seemed  as  if  a  compromise  on  a  third  town 
—  either  Warren  or  East  Greenwich  —  would  be  the 
outcome.  After  much  consideration  of  many  me- 
morials, and  careful  balancing  of  pros  and  cons,  it 
was  decided  that  "the  college  edifice  be  at  Provi- 
dence." The  contest  aroused  much  bitterness  of 
spirit.  President  Manning,  when  asked  if  it  had 
raised  up  a  new  party  in  the  government,  replied 
with  perfect  truth,  "it  has  warmed  up  the  old  ones 
something  considerable."  "Warmth"  is  a  very  mild 
term  to  apply  to  the  red-hot  rhetoric  of  the  "  Enemy 
to  all  Hypocrites,"  who  worked  off  his  pent-up  agita- 
tion in  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Newport  Mercury, 


%hode  Island  College      349 

wherein  Manning  is  denominated  "a  wolf  in  sheep's 
clothing,"  and  the  proceedings  of  the  final  meet- 
ing are  unequivocally  stigmatized  as  "bribery  and 
corruption." 

In  the  first  bitterness  of  disappointment  steps  were 
taken  to  establish  a  rival  college  at  Newport.  A 
charter  was  drawn  up  and  passed  the  lower  House, 
but  for  reasons  which  failed  to  become  matters  of 
record  it  was  rejected  in  the  upper  House,  where 
those  astute  politicians,  Moses  Brown  and  Daniel 
Jenckes,  watched  over  the  interests  of  the  Providence 
electorate.  A  ''Remonstrance"  on  the  part  of  the 
Corporation  effectually  debarred  the  rival  enterprise 
from  finding  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  new  Assembly. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  college  president 
was  enthusiastically  in  favor  of  Providence,  nor  can 
we  wonder  that  this  centre  of  Baptist  influence 
commended  itself  to  him.  While  the  selection  of  an 
abiding-place  was  yet  pending,  Manning  urged  his 
good  brother  in  the  faith,  Nicholas  Brown,  to  a  step 
which  he  felt  must  clinch  the  matter.  He  says,  "as  I 
think  you  have  the  good  of  the  College  at  heart  more 
than  they  [the  Newport  party]  it  will  stand  you  in 
hand  to  demonstrate  this  in  the  clearest  light;  and 
this  you  can  do  by  proffering  to  build  the  College 
yourselves  .  .  .  Say  nothing  about  the  President's 
house;  but  consult  how  large  a  house  you  can  build, 
and  finish  two  stories  with  your  own  money,  in  as 
short  a  time  as  you  can  possibly  accomplish  it,  and 


3  5  o  Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

engage  to  finish  the  rest  as  fast  as  wanted.  .  .  .  You 
can  here  make  all  the  advantage  yourselves,  from 
lying  handy  to  the  materials;  the  whole  weight  of 
this  will  be  thrown  directly  into  your  scale,  and  you 
can  promise  just  as  much  more  than  they  can,  as  the 
edifice  can  be  erected  cheaper  with  you  than  with 
them,  and  as  you  will  prosecute  it  with  more  spirit 
and  do  the  bargaining  and  work  with  less  expense. 
Here,  too,  you  will  have  the  advantage  of  them,  as 
you  have  made  out  bills  of  everything,  and  bespoke 
the  materials  and  workmen,  and  push  it  immediately 
into  execution."  i 

We  can  hardly  err  in  ascribing  a  certain  amount  of 
influence  to  this  bit  of  lucid  reasoning.  Six  weeks 
before  a  decision  was  reached  as  to  the  permanent 
situation  of  the  college,  namely,  on  December  29, 
1769,  Nicholas  and  Joseph  Brown  signed  an  agree- 
ment to  advance  to  the  treasurer  of  the  college  the 
sum  of  ;^3090,  legal  money,  that  being  the  amount 
of  "a  great  Number  of  Subscriptions  procured 
Signed  but  unpaid  .  .  .  the  Abilitys  of  the  Signers 
thereof  being  unknown  to  the  Trustees  and  Fellows 
or  the  Treasurer";  but  this  munificence  was  of 
course  conditional  on  the  removal  to  Providence. 

It  was  in  May,  1770,  that  the  corner-stone  of 

University  Hall  was  laid,  and  from  that  time  forth 

the  building  went  merrily  forward  under  the  shrewd 

management  of  Nicholas  Brown  and    Company. 

1  Guild,  Doc.  Hist.  B.  U.,  195. 


%hode  Island  College      3  5  ^ 

With  that  eye  for  practical  detail  which  ever  dis- 
tinguishes the  successful  business  man,  Mr.  Brown 
and  his  brothers  watched  the  progress  of  the  edifice 
destined  to  house  the  "infant  Seminary,"  in  whose 
success  they  felt  so  keen  an  interest. 

Even  before  ground  was  broken  for  the  new  build- 
ing, the  removal  of  the  college  became  an  accom- 
plished fact.  The  president  and  scholars  took  up  their 
abode  in  Providence  a  few  weeks  after  the  decisive 
vote.  The  former  was  temporarily  accommodated 
in  the  old  Bowen  house  on  the  Towne  Street,  while 
the  student  body  was  dispersed  among  the  towns- 
people, and  boarded  at  the  rate  of  j^i.25  a  week. 
Recitations  were  conducted  in  the  upper  story  of 
the  brick  schoolhouse  on  Meeting  Street.  The  little 
group  of  perhaps  a  dozen  and  a  half  students  soon 
settled  down  to  academic  routine,  and  by  the  No- 
vember of  1 77 1,  they  were  provided  with  accommo- 
dations for  lecture-rooms  within  the  walls  of  the  first 
college  buildings. 

It  was  at  this  date  that  Doctor  Stiles  recorded  a 
visit  to  the  college,  ''where  five  or  six  lower  rooms 
are  finished  off.  They  have  about  twenty  students, 
though  none  yet  living  in  the  College  edifice."  Since 
1823  the  "College  edifice"  has  been  known  as  Uni- 
versity Hall.  It  was  built  after  the  model  of  Nassau 
Hall  at  Princeton,  put  up  in  1756,  and  was  regarded 
with  admiration  by  the  academic  public  of  the  colo- 
nies.  Only  two  stories  were  put  up  at  first  in  the 


35  2  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

Providence  building.  In  1785,  a  third  was  added, 
and  in  1788,  the  fourth. 

The  lot  selected  for  the  college  grounds  was  some 
eight  acres  in  extent,  situated  at  the  top  of  the  hill 
above  the  Towne  Street,  and  running  eastward 
toward  the  Seekonk  River.  The  southern  half  of 
this  property  was  part  of  the  home  lot  of  the  "first- 
comer,"  Chad  Brown.  It  was  purchased  by  the 
college  authorities  from  Chad  Brown's  great-great- 
grandsons,  John  and  Moses  Brown,  for  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty  dollars.  The  northern  half  of  the 
college  grounds  was  purchased  from  Oliver  Bowen 
(the  son  of  Doctor  Ephraim  Bowen)  for  four  hun- 
dred dollars. 

"When  the  fixing  of  the  College  edifice  here  was 
firmly  settled,"  writes  Moses  Brown  to  President 
Wayland  in  1833,  "our  house,  then  composed  of  four 
brothers,  viz.,  Nicholas,  Joseph,  John,  and  Moses 
Brown,  concluded  to  take  charge  of  building  the 
necessary  buildings,  purchasing  land  for  the  same, 
etc."  Records  and  balance-sheets  are  still  in  exist- 
ence to  prove  the  careful  detail  and  elaborate  preci- 
sion with  which  each  disbursement  was  laid  out  and 
accounted  for.  The  postage  of  a  letter  to  Philadel- 
phia, a  month's  work  "at  the  foundation,"  "  y^  gall. 
West  India  rum  for  the  digging  of  the  well,"  "seven 
squares  glass  in  Mr.  Snows  meeting  house,  broke  at 
Commencement,"  are  entered  side  by  side  with  a 
stated  equivalent  of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence. 


Old  view  of  the  First  College  Building  and  the 
President's  House,  erected  1770 

From  an  early  engraving,  made  by  S.  Hill  after  a  draw- 
ing by  D.  Leonard. 


o^\i  aaTQH^a  j38'JoH  8V/i3ai8a;i'I 

-WBib  s  laJlc  IliH  .8  xcf  3bEfrt  t^nivfiigna  yiiBO  a&  maii 
.biBOoaJ  .Q  \d  ^ni 


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%hode  Island  College      3  5  3 

The  first  president's  house  was  contemporary  with 
"the  College  edifice."  It  stood  about  a  hundred  feet 
in  front,  and  a  little  to  the  right,  of  the  main  building. 
In  1840,  "a  new  and  elegant  mansion"  for  the  use  of 
the  college  executive  was  built  across  the  street  from 
the  college  yard,  at  the  corner  of  College  and  Pro- 
spect Streets,  and  the  old  house  entered  on  its  down- 
ward career,  literally  as  well  as  metaphorically.  It 
was  removed  to  a  site  on  the  north  side  of  College 
Street,  below  Benefit,  where  its  identity  is  well-nigh 
lost  in  that  of  the  uninviting  row  of  buildings. 

For  five  years  after  the  removal  to  Providence, 
commencements  were  held  in  the  meeting-house  of 
the  worthy  Mr.  Joseph  Snow,  on  the  West  Side  of  the 
river,  and  this  for  the  excellent  reason  that  no  other 
building  in  town  could  accommodate  the  throngs  of 
interested  listeners. 

Although  the  college  was  small  and  poor,  it  enjoyed 
the  utmost  respect  and  consideration  at  the  hands  of 
its  fellow-townsmen.  The  commencement  procession 
was  invariably  headed  by  the  President  and  His 
Excellency  the  Governor.  We  are  told  that  the  effect 
was  most  impressive,  that  "Governor  Wanton  was 
the  most  dignified  and  respectable  looking  man  ever 
seen,"  while  "the  white  wig  of  President  Manning 
was  of  the  largest  dimensions  worn  in  this  country." 

By  the  beginning  of  1772,  Doctor  Manning  felt 
justified  in  writing  to  a  friend  in  London  as  follows : 
"The  College  edifice  is  erected  on  a  most  beautiful 


354  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

eminence,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Providence,  com- 
manding a  most  charming  and  variegated  prospect;  a 
large,  neat,  brick  building,  and  so  far  completed  as  to 
receive  the  students,  who  now  reside  there,  the  num- 
ber of  whom  is  twenty-two."  The  greatest  needs 
were  a  library  and  a  philosophical  apparatus.  "At 
present  we  have  but  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
volumes,  and  these  not  well  chosen,  being  such  as  our 
friends  could  best  spare.  .  .  .  Our  whole  College 
fund  consists  of  about  ;^900  sterling,  being  the  whole 
sum  collected  abroad,  for  no  money  collected  without 
the  colonies  is  made  use  of  in  the  building,  but  solely 
applied  in  endowing  it." 

To  the  duties  of  college  president  and  minister  of 
the  gospel.  Doctor  Manning  united  those  of  head 
master  of  the  Latin  School.  This  institution  came 
from  Warren  with  its  founder  and  the  college  to 
Providence,  where  it  filled  a  long-felt  want,  as  is  set 
forth  in  the  following  advertisement:  — 

Whereas  several  gentlemen  have  requested  me  to 
take  and  educate  their  sons,  this  may  inform  them,  and 
others  disposed  to  put  their  children  under  my  care, 
that  the  Latin  School  is  now  ...  set  up  in  the  College 
edifice,  where  proper  attention  shall  be  given,  by  a 
master  duly  qualified,  and  those  found  to  be  the  most 
effective  methods  to  obtain  a  competent  knowledge  of 
grammar,  steadily  pursued.  At  the  same  time,  spelling, 
reading,  and  speaking  English  with  propriety  will  be 
particularly  attended  to.  Any  who  choose  their  sons 
should  board  In  commons,  may  be  accommodated  at 


%hode  Island  College      ZSS 

the  same  rate  as  the  students,  6  shilhngs  per  week 
being  the  price.  And  I  flatter  myself  that  such  atten- 
tion will  be  paid  to  their  learning  and  morals  as  will 
entirely  satisfy  all  who  may  send  their  children.  All 
books  for  the  school,  as  well  as  the  classical  authors 
read  in  the  College  may  be  had  at  the  lowest  rate  of  the 
subscriber. 

James  Manning. 

When  we  consider  that  at  the  date  of  this  an- 
nouncement (1772)  Doctor  Manning's  salary  as  pre- 
sident was  £(i'].  13.  4.  plus  a  house  and  garden,  to 
which  his  stipend  as  minister  of  the  Baptist  church 
added  ;^5o,  it  will  be  readily  admitted  that  any  rev- 
enue from  the  Latin  School  could  hardly  come  amiss. 
The  school's  career  was  long  and  useful.  In  1809,  a 
new  building  was  put  up  at  the  head  of  College  Street 
for  its  accommodation,  under  the  auspices  of  the  col- 
lege authorities.  Its  title  was  also  renewed,  and  from 
that  time  until  the  closing  3^ears  of  the  nineteenth 
century  it  held,  as  the  University  Grammar  School,  a 
creditable  position  in  the  academic  ranks  of  New 
England. 

An  outline  of  the  Latin  School  curriculum  has  just 
been  quoted  in  the  words  of  no  less  a  person  than  its 
worthy  founder.  It  will  interest  us  to  glance  for  a 
moment  at  the  intellectual  bill  of  fare  offered  by  the 
college.  Young  Solomon  Drowne,  of  Providence, 
matriculated  in  1770.  His  later  career  has  been 
touched  upon  in  connection  with  the  marriage  rec- 
ords of  the  Russell  family.  He  has  left  us  in  his  diary 


3  5  6  ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

an  account  of  some  of  his  intellectual  experiences  as 
a  freshman.  In  October,  1770,  his  studies  began  in 
Horace,  Longinus,  and  Lucian ;  to  these  French  was 
added  in  December.  Under  the  date  1 771,  he  writes: 
"Recited  with  the  first  class  that  recited  in  the  new 
College  Building.  Commenced  Geography  in  Janu- 
ary; Xenophon  in  February;  Watt's  Logic  in  May; 
Ward's  Oratory  in  June;  Homer's  Iliad  in  July; 
Duncan's  Logic  in  August;  Longinus  in  October; 
Hill's  Arithmetic  same  month;  Hammond's  Algebra 
and  British  Grammar  in  December." 

It  seems  that  the  days  of  vacation  were  too  few  and 
unimportant  to  justify  their  mention  in  this  academic 
calendar. 

By  1783,  the  spirit  of  revolution  had  made  itself 
felt,  and  in  the  college  laws  of  that  year  vacations 
were  specifically  provided  for  "  From  September  6th 
to  October  20th;  from  December  24th  to  January 
24th;  and  from  the  first  Monday  in  May  three 
weeks,"  leaving  thirty-nine  weeks  of  term-time  to 
the  scholars  of  that  hale  and  hearty  generation. 

The  second-year  courses  were  in  ethics,  Euclid, 
metaphysics,  trigonometry,  Cicero,  philosophy,  use 
of  the  globes,  and  Hebrew  grammar. 

This  modern  Solomon  graduated  in  1773,  the  vale- 
dictorian of  his  class,  fully  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  the  occasion.  "At  length  the  day,  the 
great,  the  important  day,  is  come,"  he  writes.  "O 
may  it  prove  propitious.   Now  we  must  pass  from 


%hode  Island  College      ZSI 

easy  College  duties  into  the  busy,  bustling  scenes  of 
life."  The  prophecy,  as  regarded  his  own  future, 
was  fairly  accurate.  An  experience  of  four  years  as 
an  army  surgeon  was  eventually  followed  by  twenty- 
three  years  of  service  as  college  professor,  the  greater 
part  including  the  anarchic  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Asa  Messer,  when  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the 
bonds  of  discipline  were  burst  asunder. 

During  Solomon  Drowne's  undergraduate  days, 
however,  the  vigilance  of  the  college  authorities  was 
unremitting.  Life  outside  the  classroom  was  regu- 
lated to  a  degree  that  would  seem  to  a  student  of  the 
present  day  fairly  preposterous.  According  to  the 
"Laws  and  Customs  of  Rhode  Island  College,"  in 
1774,  students  were  required  to  attend  both  morning 
and  evening  prayers.  The  former  were  held  at  six  in 
the  summer,  and  at  seven  in  the  winter.  Each  stu- 
dent was  also  required  "to  attend  public  worship 
every  First  Day  of  the  week  steadily."  No  student 
could  be  out  of  his  room  after  nine  in  the  evening, 
nor  was  he  then,  nor  at  any  other  time,  permitted  to 
play  "at  cards  or  any  unlawful  games,  swear,  lie, 
steal,  or  get  drunk  ...  or  attend  at  places  of  idle 
and  vain  sports."  During  the  "hours  of  study" 
(from  nine  to  twelve,  from  two  to  sunset,  and  from 
seven  to  nine)  no  language  save  Latin  might  be 
spoken  in  the  college  edifice,  or  the  college  yard. 

Freshmen  were  called  upon  "to  kindle  a  fire  sea- 
sonably before  morning  prayers."  The  body  of  the 


3  5  8  Vrovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

underclassmen  were  recommended  to  the  especial 
care  of  the  seniors,  who  had  authority  to  detain  of- 
fenders after  evening  prayers,  *'and  there  admonish 
them  .  .  .  correct  and  instruct  them  in  their  general 
deportment  in  such  minute  particulars  of  a  genteel 
carriage  and  good  breeding,  as  does  not  come  within 
any  express  written  laws  of  the  College,"  while  "the 
delinquents"  are  bidden  to  receive  the  same  "with 
modesty  and  submission,  and  punctually  observe." 

For  commons  the  boys  seem  to  have  received  a 
bountiful  supply  of  good  substantial  food,  agreeable 
to  the  specifications  carefully  stipulated  and  drawn 
up  by  no  less  august  a  body  than  the  corporation. 
Twice  a  week  the  dinners  were  of  salt  meat,  either 
beef  or  pork,  "with  peas,  beans,  greens,  roots,  etc., 
and  puddings."  Fresh  meat  —  either  roasted,  baked, 
boiled,  or  fried,  with  vegetables  —  was  served  twice 
a  week.  One  dinner  was  to  consist  of  "soup  and 
fragments,"  one  of  "boiled  fresh  meat  with  a  proper 
sauce  or  broth,"  and  one  "of  salt  or  fresh  fish  with 
brown  bread.  For  drink,  good  small  beer  or  cider." 
For  breakfast,  tea  or  coffee  was  served  with  white 
bread,  or  toasted  brown  bread,  and  butter.  But  if 
chocolate  or  milk  porridge  was  selected  to  drink,  then 
no  butter  was  served  with  the  bread.  Suppers  con- 
sisted of  "Milk  with  hasty  pudding,  rice,  samp, 
white  bread,  etc.  Or  milk  porridge,  chocolate,  tea, 
coffee,  as  for  breakfast." 

It  was  further  provided  that  "  the  several  articles 


View  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 

Corner  of  Benefit  and  Benevolent  Streets,  erected  1795, 
destroyed  by  fire,  1814.  From  an  old  engraving  by 
William  Hamlin. 


vcl  §i  ■  !a  fl£  EBcai    4181   ^ift  yd  ba  / 

„;[,-„ ..TT  f,- 


"*iiJ«&r--;X  -.ik 


fe:. 


"RJoode  Island  College      3  59 

and  provisions  ...  be  diversified  and  changed  as  to 
their  succession  through  the  week,  .  .  .  with  the 
addition  of  puddings,  apple  pies,  dumpHngs,  cheese, 
etc.,  to  be  interspersed  ...  as  often  as  may  be  con- 
venient and  suitable."  For  this  table  one  dollar  a 
week  was  charged. 

In  1774,  amid  ominous  mutterings  from  the  war- 
clouds  of  the  Revolution  fast  gathering  on  the  polit- 
ical horizon,  the  last  commencement  in  "Mr.  Snow's 
meeting  house"  was  held.  The  temper  of  the  times 
was  shown  by  the  presence  in  the  procession  of  the 
"Company  of  Cadets  in  uniforms,  who,"  says  the 
Gazette,  "made  an  elegant  and  truly  military  appear- 
ance, and  both  in  the  procession  and  manoeuvres, 
which  they  performed  on  the  College  Green,  pro- 
cured universal  approbation,  and  convinced  the 
spectators,  that  Americans  are  no  less  capable  of 
military  discipline  than  Europeans." 

After  1774,  the  well-known  First  Baptist  Meeting- 
House,  at  the  foot  of  Waterman  Street,  was  available 
for  commencement  exercises. 

Since  this  religious  society  had  been  under  the 
ministrations  of  President  Manning  it  had  grown 
apace.  When  his  ministry  began,  in  1770,  the  church 
had  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen. 
The  early  Baptists  were  opposed  on  principle  to  the 
payment  of  money  for  religious  ministrations,  and 
James  Manning  was  the  first  Baptist  minister  in 
Providence  to  receive  a  salary.   In  his  case  it  may 


360  'Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

surely  be  affirmed  that  the  servant  proved  worthy  of 
his  hire.  It  is  true  that  the  obnoxious  fact  of  his 
"holding  to  singing  in  public  worship"  hopelessly 
discredited  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  ultra-conservative 
element  of  his  congregation,  and  his  lax  views  re- 
specting the  "laying  on  of  hands"  led  the  advocates 
of  a  stricter  theology  to  withdraw  from  the  society. 
Nevertheless  his  efforts  were  rewarded,  within  a  few 
years'  time,  by  a  revival  which  nearly  doubled  the 
membership  of  the  church.  Its  members  were  raised 
to  a  total  so  imposing  that  it  at  once  became  evi- 
dent to  every  one  that  the  little  meeting-house  on 
the  Towne  Street  was  quite  outgrown.  The  more  sub- 
stantial and  public-spirited  Baptists  took  counsel 
together,  and  embodied  the  results  of  their  cogita- 
tions in  a  resolution  to  the  following  effect:  "  That  we 
will  all  heartily  unite  as  one  man  in  all  lawful  ways 
and  means  ...  to  attend  to  and  revive  the  affair 
of  building  a  meeting  house  for  the  public  worship  of 
Almighty  God,  and  also  for  holding  Commencement 
in." 

According  to  an  ancient  and  honorable  tradition, 
the  lot  selected  for  the  new  meeting-house  was  then 
an  orchard  belonging  to  John  Angell,  who  is  credited 
with  being  the  last  of  the  Gortonists,  and  who  at  all 
events  was  no  admirer  of  the  Baptist  theology.  It 
was  felt,  and  doubtless  with  reason,  that  Mr.  Angell 
would  be  violently  opposed  to  selling  his  property  as 
a  site  for  a  Baptist  meeting-house.  In  this  dilemma 


View    of    the    First    Baptist    Meeting-House, 

ERECTED    1775 

From  an  engraving  first  printed  in  the  Massachusetts 
Magazine  for  August,  1789,  and  engraved  by  S.  Hill. 


,38U0H-0KIT33M     T81T<IAa     TgHI*^      SLXIT     "^O     W3lV 

^«^rvn\.iv.\ia\l\.  arfJ  ni  batnhq  iaift  gaivfiigna  ne  moil 


%hode  Island  College      3  ^  i 

the  guile  of  the  serpent  was  resorted  to,  and  with  suc- 
cess. Good  William  Russell,  a  pillar  ot  the  Episcopal 
Church,  admired  and  trusted  by  all  who  knew  him, 
was  induced  to  negotiate  the  purchase  as  if  for  him- 
self, and  then  to  convey  the  lot  to  the  Baptists. 

A  lottery  was  then  put  before  the  public,  in  order 
to  raise  funds,  and  tickets  were  sent  to  the  neighbor- 
ing towns  to  be  disposed  of  among  friends  of  the 
college  and  the  Baptist  society.  Nicholas  Brown 
wrote  to  Benjamin  Mason,  at  Newport,  enclosing 
"A  Scheem  for  a  Lottery  for  Building  a  Meeting- 
house designed  to  Accomodate  Publick  Commence- 
ments and  is  to  be  Built  strong  and  Convenient  for 
the  purpose  .  .  .  the  Ladies  that  have  a  Taste  for 
such  Exebetions  will  be  much  Accomodated  in  the 
Safety  of  their  Persons,  as  well  as  Elegence  and  Con- 
venience of  the  Building  for  the  purpose  designed 
.  ,  .  pray  feel  round  amongst  yr.  friends  and  those 
to  the  Cause  and  let  us  know  how  Many  [tickets]  you 
Can  dispose  of  and  they  shall  be  sent." 

The  tickets  were  divided  into  six  classes,  with 
prices  ranging  from  five  to  two  and  one  half  dollars. 
The  "  cheerful  assistance  and  encouragement  of  the 
public"  was  solicited  through  the  columns  of  the 
Gazette,  as  well  as  by  personal  correspondence,  and 
eventually  some  seven  thousand  dollars  were  se- 
cured. 

Meanwhile  a  committee  of  two,  namely,  Joseph 
Brown  and  Jonathan  Hammond,  were  instructed  to 


362   ^Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

go  to  Boston  "as  soon  as  may  be  to  view  the  different 
churches  and  meeting  houses  there,  and  to  make  a 
memorandum  of  their  several  dimensions  and  forms 
of  architecture."  Joseph  Brown  has  long  been  given 
the  position  of  chief  architect,  together  with  the 
honor  attaching  to  a  really  creditable  piece  of  work. 
His  claim  has  been  questioned,  but  since  the  matter 
at  issue  is  after  all  one  of  adaptation  and  not  of  origi- 
nal design,  the  game  would  not  seem  to  be  worth  any 
great  expenditure  of  powder  and  shot.  The  model  for 
the  new  meeting-house  is  acknowledged  to  be  St. 
Martin's-in-the-Fields,  in  London,  a  church  designed 
by  James  Gibbs,  a  noted  follower  of  Sir  Christopher 
Wren. 

The  total  cost  of  the  lot  and  meeting-house  is  esti- 
mated by  the  historian  of  Brown  University  to  have 
been  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  "When  we  con- 
sider the  scarcity  of  money  in  those  days,"  says 
Guild,  "the  dangers  of  the  impending  war  with  the 
mother  country,  and  also  the  fact  that  Providence 
was  a  small  town,  containing  a  population  of  four 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-one,  we  are 
amazed  at  the  energy,  enterprise,  and  skill  which 
could  successfully  complete  so  great  an  undertak- 
ing." Good  Doctor  Guild's  pious  satisfaction  in  this 
monument  to  the  public  spirit  of  the  eighteenth- 
century  Providence  would  have  been  changed  to 
incredulity  not  unmingled  with  contempt  could  he 
have  seen  his  fellow-townsmen  of  the  twentieth  cen- 


%hode  Island  College      3^3 

tury  preparing  to  hand  over  the  old  First  Church, 
its  spacious  yard  and  beautiful  elms,  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  a  railway  corporation  in  the  interest  of 
what  are  called  better  transportation  facilities.  The 
episode  of  Esau  and  his  birthright  has  been  played 
on  many  a  sordid  stage  since  the  days  of  Jacob  and 
his  brothers,  but  seldom  without  better  justification 
than  in  the  present  instance. 

Ground  was  broken  for  the  new  meeting-house 
early  in  the  summer  of  1774.  Stiles  says,  writing 
under  date  of  October  6,  "Viewed  the  Frame  of  a 
large  Baptist  Meetinghouse  in  Providence  80  feet 
square  raised  last  Month;  this  to  be  the  Baptist 
Cathedral  for  America."  The  frame  was  advertised 
to  be  raised  on  August  29,  when  "all  Carpenters  and 
others  who  are  willing  to  assist"  were  "desired  to 
attend  on  such  Days  as  shall  be  most  convenient  for 
them,  for  which  they  will  receive  the  Thanks  of 
the  Committee."  The  house  was  opened  for  public 
worship  on  Sunday,  May  25,  1775,  when  President 
Manning  preached  the  dedicatory  sermon. 

The  building  attracted  attention  throughout  the 
American  colonies,  and  soon  became  one  of  the 
"sights,"  to  be  included  in  the  itinerary  of  all  tour- 
ists, whether  foreign  or  domestic.  Almost  precisely 
one  year  from  the  day  on  which  Doctor  Stiles  was 
privileged  "to  view  the  Frame,"  he  records  in  his 
diary  the  interesting  fact  that  he  has  "viewed  the 
new  Baptist  Meetinghouse."  He  pronounces  it  "the 


364  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

most  superb  and  costly  Edifice  of  the  Kind  in  New 
England,"  and  describes  it  as  "highly  ornamented, 
tho'  with  mixt  Architecture  meant  to  be  after  the 
Doric  Order:  it  has,"  he  concludes,  "a  most  lofty 
Steeple."  The  architectural  ornamentation,  thus 
critically  mentioned,  must  refer  to  the  pillars  sup- 
porting the  gallery  of  the  church.  These  may  with 
some  plausibility  be  described  as  "meant  to  be  after 
the  Doric  Order."  It  may  be  said  no  less  truly  of  the 
exterior  that  its  architectural  adornments  are  "mixt." 
Doric  pillars  support  the  porch  covering  the  front 
entrance,  while  in  mid- air  a  truly  marvellous  com- 
bination of  square  columns  with  would-be  Ionic 
capitals  forms  the  lower  and  supporting  story  of  the 
steeple  proper. 

The  final  additions  to  the  new  building  were  felt  to 
give  the  last  touch  of  dignity  and  decorum.  A  bell 
and  a  clock  were  imported  from  England.  The  latter, 
after  holding  for  many  years  without  a  rival  the 
proud  position  of  town-clock,  was  brought  down 
from  its  high  estate  to  adorn  a  humbler  field  of  labor 
on  the  spire  of  a  mission  church  nearby. 

The  bell  has  been  several  times  recast.  It  origin- 
ally bore  the  following  inscription:  — 

For  freedom  of  conscience  the  town  was  first  planted. 
Persuasion,  not  force,  was  used  by  the  people. 
This  church  is  the  oldest,  and  has  not  recanted, 
Enjoying  and  granting  bell,  temple,  and  steeple. 

Steeples  and  bells  were  forbidden  to  the  dissenting 


T(hode  Island  College      3^5 

chapels  of  the  mother-country,  and  it  was  no  doubt  a 
comforting  thought  for  the  pious  colonial  dissenter 
that  in  outward  pomp  of  circumstance  his  meeting- 
house compared  favorably  with  King's  Church,  a 
little  further  up  the  street,  or  even  with  Old  Trinity, 
at  Newport. 

In  1792,  Nicholas  Brown  the  younger  —  the  son  of 
our  old  friend  Nicholas,  who  has  figured  so  fre- 
quently in  these  pages  —  gave  two  thousand  dollars 
to  provide  a  lot  and  parsonage ;  and  in  the  same  year 
his  sister,  Hope  Brown,  gave  the  crystal  chandelier. 
Tradition  tells  us  thcic  this  was  first  lighted  on  the 
evening  of  her  wedding.  Whatever  may  be  involved 
in  that  statement,  it  is  doubtful  if  even  tradition 
would  incur  the  responsibility  of  asserting  that  the 
wedding  so  celebrated  took  place  within  the  illumin- 
ated meeting-house.  So  great  a  departure  from  the 
standard  of  decorum  prevailing  in  the  Baptist  socie- 
ties would  certainly  not  have  been  sanctioned  by  the 
family  of  the  conservative  Nicholas  Brown,  who 
might  well  have  served  his  fellow-townsmen  as  a 
pattern  of  dignified  conventionality. 

In  1834,  the  historic  interest  of  the  building  was 
sadly  diminished  by  a  remodelling  of  the  interior. 
The  high  pulpit  with  its  sounding-board,  and  the 
square  pews  were  banished,  no  doubt  in  response  to 
the  demand  for  greater  seating  capacity. 


Chapter  X 

PROVIDENCE  HOUSES,  1785-1830 

A  FTER  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  Provi- 
/%  dence  entered  on  an  era  of  great  prosper- 
^  jL  ity.  This  was  brought  about  by  her 
shipping-trade,  and  especially  by  the  trade  with 
China  and  the  East  Indies.  Great  wealth  was 
brought  into  the  town,  and  the  foremost  ship-owners 
and  merchants  lived  in  a  way  of  corresponding 
luxury.  They  built  houses  of  stately  dignity,  with 
large,  square,  high-studded  rooms,  and  walls  that 
defy  even  the  New-England  east  wind,  and  their 
beautiful  woodwork  still  serves  us  as  a  model  for 
decoration.^ 

One  of  the  best  examples  in  New  England  of  this 
type  of  architecture  is  the  house  built  by  John  Brown 
on  Power  Street,  in  1786.  It  is  now  Number  52 
Power  Street.  In  the  following  year  John  Brown 
sent  the  first  ship  from  the  port  of  Providence  to  the 
East  Indies.  This  W2iSt\\t  General  fFashington.  John 
Brown  was  a  great  admirer  of  Washington.  WTien  he 
built  the  first  Washington  Bridge  over  Providence 
River,  close  to  his  new  wharves  and  docks,  he 
placed  a  wooden  statue  of  his  favorite  hero  on  the 
new  bridge,  and  gave  it  its  present  name.  His  house 
^  Dow,  American  Renaissance  Houses  in  Bristol. 


John  Brown  House,  Power  Street 

Now  owned  by  Marsden  J.  Perry.  Erected  1786,  and 
referred  to  by  John  Quincy  Adams  in  1789  as  "the  most 
magnificent  and  elegant  private  mansion  that  I  have 
ever  seen  on  this  continent."  From  a  photograph,  191 1, 
by  Willis  A.  Dean. 


Ta3>iT8  ^awo*^[  ,a8'JoH  viwoa.H.  zho]^ 

Laii  tc)8^i  b3J33i3  -xnal  .\  nabaiuM  {d  banwo  v/o^l 
Jsom  ^rfj"  8B  qS^i  ni  grnfibA  -pniuQ  nrio|_  -^d  oJ  bsTtaHi 
ovfiri  I  JbHj  noiansm  aJsvhq  Jnegab  hae,  JnaDxiingBin 
-IIP!  ,ffqfii§(;Joriq  £  moil  '\laanhaoo  i'ldi  no  n^aa  lovs 

.HK^a  .A  eilliW  (d 


^Providence  Houses        3^7 

on  Power  Street  was  designed  by  his  brother,  Joseph 
Brown.  Joseph  was  a  man  of  scholarly,  rather  than 
commercial  aptitudes.  He  is  said  to  have  lent  a  hand 
in  designing  the  First  Baptist  Church.  He  also 
worked  on  the  design  of  the  Old  Market  House  at  the 
foot  of  College  Street,  now  known  as  the  Board  of 
Trade.  This  building  was  put  up  in  1773.  It  was 
originally  of  two  stories.  The  windows  in  the  ground 
floor  now  take  the  place  of  the  market-stalls.  In 
1797,  permission  was  given  to  the  Order  of  Free 
Masons,  to  which  almost  every  man  of  wealth  and 
social  consideration  in  town  belonged,  to  add  a  third 
story.  This  was  to  be  held  as  their  own  property. 

Besides  these  buildings,  Joseph  Brown  designed 
his  own  home  at  72  South  Main  Street,  a  little  south 
of  College  Hill.  It  is  a  beautiful  old  house,  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  Providence  Bank.  The  doorway  was 
originally  on  the  level  of  the  second  story,  and  was 
reached  by  a  long  flight  of  steps  from  either  side  of 
the  central  landing.  The  street  floor  was  used  for 
shops.  The  house  was  built  in  1774.  Joseph  Brown 
was  an  astronomer  and  physicist,  as  well  as  architect. 
For  some  time  he  held  the  position  of  professor  of 
experimental  philosophy  at  Rhode  Island  College. 

Another  wealthy  merchant,  named  Joseph  Night- 
ingale, built  the  house.  Number  354  Benefit  Street, 
at  the  corner  of  Power  Street.  This  dates  from  1791. 
It  and  the  John  Brown  house  across  Power  Street 
were  the  two  most  costly  residences  of  the  Providence 


368  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

of  that  day.  The  Nightingale  house  is  now  known  as 
the  John  Carter  Brown  house,  having  been  sold  to 
the  Browns  by  Mr.  Nightingale's  heirs. 

Farther  up  the  street,  at  the  corner  of  Power  and 
Brown  Streets,  is  the  house  built  by  Thomas  Poynton 
Ives,  in  1 8 16.  Thomas  Ives  came  to  Providence  from 
Beverly,  Massachusetts,  when  he  was  thirteen  years 
old,  as  an  apprentice  for  the  shipping  firm  of  Nicho- 
las Brown  and  Company.  His  abilities  commended 
him  not  only  to  his  employer,  but  to  his  employer's 
daughter  as  well,  and  in  1792  he  married  Hope 
Brown,  in  whose  honor  Hope  College  was  named 
some  thirty  years  later.  From  an  apprentice  young 
Ives  rose  by  appropriate  stages  to  a  partnership. 
The  name  of  the  firm  then  became  Brown  and  Ives, 
by  which  it  has  ever  since  been  known.  The  old 
counting-house  of  Brown  and  Ives  is  Number  50 
South  Main  Street,  and  is  still  used  by  their  descend- 
ants for  office  purposes. 

In  the  good  old  days  the  bales  and  packages  were 
brought  on  board  ship  to  the  wharf,  or  slip,  just 
across  the  street,  and  hoisted  from  the  decks  to  the 
windows  of  the  loft,  over  which  still  depends  the 
heavy  iron  ring  where  once  the  ropes  were  made  fast. 

From  the  upper  windows  of  Thomas  Ives's  new 
house  on  Power  Street  he  could  overlook  the  beau- 
tiful garden  of  his  neighbor  Edward  Carrington, 
whose  mansion  on  Williams  Street,  built  in  1813,  had 
been  for  three  years  the  admiration  of  all  Providence. 


Vrovidence  Houses        3^9 

It  is  Number  66  Williams  Street,  and  is  still  owned 
and  occupied  by  the  Carrington  family. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  hill,  on  Prospect  Street,  a 
little  beyond  Barnes  Street,  lived  one  of  the  leading 
lights  of  Providence  social  circles  —  Colonel  Thomas 
Lloyd  Halsey.  In  1801,  his  house  on  South  Main 
Street  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  he  then  built  the 
large  brick  house  with  swell  fronts,  which  stands  on 
the  west  side  of  Prospect  Street,  on  the  crest  of  the 
hill.  It  has  been  atrociously  modified  by  so-called 
improvements  within  the  last  five  or  six  years.  The 
Halsey  farm  extended  to  Hope  Street  and  included 
the  site  of  the  present  reservoir. 

The  old  Halsey  mansion  boasts  not  only  a  well- 
developed  ghost,  —  a  piano-playing  ghost!  —  but 
also  a  fine  large  bloodstain,  which  cannot  be 
scrubbed  from  the  floor,  but  which  does  not  appear 
to  all  observers.  It  eludes  those  investigators  who 
are  prompted  by  a  vain  curiosity,  or  by  a  desire  to 
gather  statistics  of  psychological  phenomena ;  but  to 
those  whose  minds  are  free  from  prejudice  and  whose 
hearts  are  truly  sympathetic  it  never  fails  to  appear. 
For  many  years  the  negroes  living  in  the  neighbor- 
hood objected  to  passing  the  place  after  dark,  and 
while  it  stood  empty  (as  it  did  for  long  periods)  not 
one  of  them  could  have  been  induced  to  enter  it. 
Tales  were  current  of  a  piano  played  for  hours  at  a 
time  within  the  empty  house,  in  that  uncanny  inter- 
val between  midnight  and  daybreak. 


370  Trovidence  in  Colonial  Times 

Another  old  house  is  that  built  probably  by  Ebene- 
zer  Knight  Dexter  in  1796.  It  originally  stood  facing 
George  Street  on  part  of  the  lot  where  Rhode  Island 
Hall  stands  to-day.  When  this  lot  became  the  pro- 
perty of  the  college,  the  Dexter  house  was  moved 
across  the  campus  to  Waterman  Street.  It  is  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  Doctor  Day. 

At  about  the  same  time,  Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter 
also  built  the  house  on  Benefit  Street  which  stands 
over  the  opening  of  the  tunnel.  This  was  that 
Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter  who  gave  the  Dexter 
Asylum  to  the  city  of  Providence. 

Another  interesting  house  on  Benefit  Street  is  the 
Sullivan  Dorr  House,  Number  109,  built  on  the 
model  of  Pope's  villa  at  Twickenham.  Sullivan  Dorr 
was  father  of  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  the  hero  and  victim 
of  the  Dorr  War  in  1842,  which  gained  manhood 
suffrage  for  the  State  of  Rhode  Island.  The  Sullivan 
Dorr  house  has  a  remarkably  beautiful  staircase. 
Its  mural  decorations  are  probably  unique  among 
Rhode  Island  houses.  They  extend  around  the  upper 
and  lower  halls,  and  the  drawing-room,  above  the 
low  wainscoting,  and  are  the  work  of  a  Neapolitan 
artist,  who  visited  Providence  in  18 10.  Their  scope 
is  wide.  Among  them  are  Italian  landscapes,  one 
with  Vesuvius  and  one  with  a  ruined  castle  conspicu- 
ous in  the  foreground.  There  are  also  scenes  of  a  less 
exalted  nature,  —  one  of  a  farmhouse  and  yard,  in 
which  some  recent  restorer  of  the  realistic  school  was 


Joseph  Nightingale  House 

Benefit  Street,  erected  by  Joseph  Nightingale  about 
1 791.  It  was  sold  in  1814  to  Nicholas  Brown  and  for 
many  years  was  the  home  of  the  John  Carter  Brown 
Library  —  the  finest  existing  collection  of  books  relating 
to  the  early  history  of  America.  From  a  photograph 
taken  in  1902, 


Juodfi  alji^aijrigiVl  rfqseoT.  vd  baJo-i-ra  ^JaaiJ^  jftan-ja 
lol  bnjs  nwoia  afiloriai/i  ol  4^181  ni  bloa  8rw  jI  .iQ'^i 
tvffoiH  -laJifiO  nrfoT,  3ri:f  lo  amorl  adj  aew  8ib3x  ynsra 
§niJ£bi  zAood  \o  noiJaalloa  gniJeixs  Jzsnft  sriJ  —  '{isidiJ 

.SOQT  ni  n-jyiBJ 


'Providence  Houses        3  7  ^ 

moved  to  paint  the  clothes-line  with  all  its  weekly 
burden  of  household  linen.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
this  crowning  touch  was  not  permitted  to  remain. 

At  the  corner  of  Benefit  and  College  Streets,  we 
have  the  quarters  of  the  Handicraft  Club.  This  de- 
lightful old  house  was  built  by  Truman  Beckwith  in 
1820.  His  family  deplored  his  selection  of  a  site  thus 
remote  from  the  centre  of  civilization.  "Well,"  said 
his  brother-in-law,  "  I  can't  see  why  Truman  wants 
to  build  up  there  in  the  lots!" 

Ebenezer  Knight  Dexter  also  built  the  house  at  the 
head  of  Cooke  Street,  on  Angell  Street,  known  to- 
day as  the  Diman  house.  The  house  was  sold  by 
Mr.  Dexter,  and  changed  owners  twice  after  that  be- 
fore it  became  the  property  of  Alexander  Jones,  in 
181 1.  Mr.  Jones  was  a  former  resident  and  merchant 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  a  graduate  of 
Brown  University  in  the  class  of  1801.  He  called  the 
place  Bellevue.  The  better  to  enjoy  this  view  he  had 
the  roof  built  to  a  square,  where  were  seats  and  a 
balustrade,  from  which  on  a  clear  day  Newport,  at 
the  end  of  Narragansett  Bay,  could  easily  be  seen. 

Alexander  Jones  lived  there  until  1837.  His  son, 
George  F.  Jones,  has  given  a  little  account  of  life  in 
Providence  when  he  was  a  young  man.  The  town 
had  then  a  population  of  about  eleven  thousand. 
There  were  but  four  houses,  of  which  the  Jones  house 
was  one,  between  the  College  building  and  the  See- 
konk  River,  to  the  east.  Mr.  Jones  tells  us  that  in  1 825 


372   Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

or  1826,  his  father,  who  had  been  to  Boston  and 
Salem,  purchased  at  the  latter  place  and  brought 
home  the  first  pair  of  India-rubber  overshoes  that 
were  seen  in  Providence.  They  were  about  a  third 
of  an  inch  thick,  hard,  stiff,  and  unyielding,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  warm  them  thoroughly  before  they 
could  be  put  on.  One  only  wonders  how  they  were 
ever  taken  off  again! 

Among  other  graphic  reminiscences  is  that  of  the 
introduction  of  anthracite  coal.  The  pioneer  was  a 
certain  Mr.  Wood,  who  had  a  grate  put  up  in  the 
parlor  of  his  house  on  Waterman  Street,  and  issued 
an  invitation  to  the  public  to  come  and  see  the 
"black  stones"  burn.  The  general  astonishment 
was  unbounded,  and  some  incredulous  citizens  made 
a  second  visit  to  assure  themselves  that  it  was  not  all 
a  dream. 

In  those  days  churches  were  not  heated.  In  St. 
John's  a  wood  fire  was  made  in  a  large  stove  in  the 
vestry-room  on  Sunday  mornings,  and  there  the  boys 
and  girls  were  wont  to  gather  with  the  family  foot- 
stoves,  which  were  filled  with  live  coals  of  oak  and 
walnut,  and  carried  into  the  frigid  pews  for  the  pur- 
pose of  stimulating  religious  enthusiasm. 

The  march  of  improvement  was  slow  out  of  doors, 
as  well  as  indoors.  Pavements  were  not  generally 
laid  down  until  late  in  the  eighteenth  century.  They 
were  of  large  round  stones,  and  the  sidewalk  (when 
it  was  anything  but  a  mere  bank  of  earth)  was  of  the 


Sullivan  Dorr  House 

Corner  of  Benefit  and  Bowen  Streets,  built  early  in  the 
last  century  and  designed  by  John  H.  Greene.  It  was 
long  the  residence  of  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  whose  efforts  to 
reform  the  suffrage  in  Rhode  Island  brought  about  the 
Dorr  War.     From  a  photograph  taken  about  1870. 


aauoH  sihoQ  ma.vijju8 

1 91133  "io  lamoO 

^;:/v  .  •  Ai  iii^  jI,  <.'J  L-jc^^uob  Lnfi  ^rmJnao  Jasi 

oi  8T I  .  -/  5noQ  .W  fiBmofIT  \o  aonabisai  ^itr  gnol 

orit  luodfi  JriguoiH  bnelal  aboJil  ni  agBiftua  srii  xmoVji 

.0^81  Juodi:  aodct  ilqBigoJorlq  £  mr-'-''      -     "  -     '  ' 


Trovidence  Houses        37  3 

same  material.  Through  the  middle  of  the  street  ran 
a  long  line  of  stones  of  larger  size  than  the  others. 
These  were  called,  "the  crown  of  the  causeway." 
Along  this  narrow  path  ladies,  and  people  who  were 
more  than  usually  careful  for  the  safety  of  their 
clothes,  picked  their  way  in  wet  weather. 

Until  1820,  people  whose  business  or  pleasure  took 
them  abroad  after  dark  guided  their  steps  over  the 
uneven  walks  by  means  of  hand-lanterns.  In  1820, 
for  the  first  time,  the  streets  were  lighted  at  the 
expense  of  the  town. 

In  those  days  the  fashionable  shopping-district 
was  Cheapside,  a  name  given  to  the  west  side  of 
North  Main  Street  from  Market  Square  northward 
for  perhaps  four  or  five  blocks.  There,  in  1805,  the 
firm  of  B.  H.  Gladding  Company  (then  Watson  and 
Gladding)  began  its  career  at  the  "  Sign  of  the  Bunch 
of  Grapes,"  and  there  the  business  was  carried  on 
until  1880.  The  original  sign  is  in  the  cabinet  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

In  1828,  the  Arcade  was  built  on  Westminster 
Street,  showing  that  the  town's  business  centre  was 
shifting  to  the  West  Side  of  the  river.  It  is  said  that 
the  Madeleine,  in  Paris,  was  the  stimulus  for  erecting 
the  six  or  seven  "Arcades"  that  appeared  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States  about  this  time.  Of  these, 
the  Providence  Arcade  is  the  only  one  now  standing. 
The  pillars  have  been  said  to  be  the  largest  monoliths 
in  America,  with  the  exception  of  those  in  the  Cathe- 


374  "Providence  in  Colonial  Times 

dral  of  St.  John  the  Divine.  The  pediment  on  the 
Westminster  Street  end  is  triangular,  while  that  on 
Weybosset  Street  is  rectangular,  in  shape.  This  va- 
riety of  decoration  is  due  to  a  difference  of  taste 
on  the  part  of  the  two  architects,  who  thus  compro- 
mised their  difficulties.  The  Arcade  was,  in  its  day, 
considered  a  triumphal  combination  of  elegance  and 
utility.  Under  one  roof,  sheltered  from  wind  and 
rain,  purchasers  found  wherewithal  to  clothe  them- 
selves, from  bonnets  to  rubber  overshoes.  It  was  the 
advance  guard  of  the  modern  department  store. 

In  those  days  communication  with  the  outside 
world  was  well  provided  for.  In  1817,  when  Presi- 
dent Monroe  visited  Providence,  he  landed  from  a 
small  government  steamer,  called  the  Firefly.  This 
was  a  tremendous  innovation,  but  before  many  years 
had  passed  the  Providence  and  New  York  steam- 
boats were  famous  throughout  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
When,  in  1823,  the  steamer  Fulton  succeeded  in 
making  the  voyage  within  twenty-four  hours  it  was 
heralded  in  the  newspapers  from  Maine  to  Georgia 
as  the  latest  wonder  in  rapid  transit. 

Those  were  the  piping  days  of  stage-coach  travel. 
In  the  summer  of  1829  there  were  three  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  stage-coaches  a  week  running  between 
Boston  and  Providence,  besides  many  local  stages  to 
points  nearer  the  city. 

Occasional  sightseers  came  to  Providence,  as  to 
other  towns.    Some  of  these  put  their  impressions 


The  Arcade 

Built  1827-28;  for  many  years  after  its  construction 
one  of  the  chief  objects  of  interest  to  visitors.  From  an 
old  lithograph  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 


SQAOaA   3hT 

nobouiienoo  zHi  lo^in  aiBOv    {nfim  noi  ;8s-^s:8i  3liii3 

rifi  rnoi'i   .?.io3hhr  oi  JasisJni  \o  RJooido  \siii:>  adi  \o  aao 

.X39ioo8  iBohoJaiH  bnelal  aboHfl  9x1 1  n't  HqBigoHtil  bio 


Vrovidence  Houses        375 

into  print,  and  among  them  was  Mrs.  Anne  Royal, 
of  Virginia,  who  wrote  in  1826:  — 

Providence  is  a  very  romantic  town,  lying  partly 
on  two  hills,  and  partly  on  a  narrow  plain,  about 
wide  enough  for  two  streets.  ...  It  contains  fourteen 
houses  for  public  worship,  a  college,  a  jail,  a  theatre,  a 
market-house,  eight  banks,  an  alms-house,  part  of 
which  is  a  hospital,  and  12,800  inhabitants.  .  .  . 
Providence  is  mostly  built  of  wood,  though  there  are 
many  fine  brick  edifices  in  it.  .  .  .  The  streets  are  wide 
and  regular,  and  most  of  them  paved,  with  handsome 
sidewalks,  planted  with  trees.  It  is  a  very  flourishing, 
beautiful  town,  and  carries  on  an  extensive  trade  with 
the  East  Indies.  The  town  of  Providence  owns  six 
cotton  factories,  two  woollen  factories,  twelve  jewel- 
ler's shops,  where  jewelry  is  manufactured  for  export- 
ation. .  .  .  The  citizens  are  mostly  men  of  extensive 
capital.  ...  I  made  several  attempts  to  see  Brown 
University,  but  was  finally  disappointed.  I  called 
several  times  at  the  house  of  the  President,  but  never 
found  him  in.  The  buildings  .  .  .  are  not  extraordin- 
ary, either  for  size  or  architecture.  ...  I  am  told  it 
is  well  endowed,  has  a  president  and  ten  professors,  and 
averages  150  students.  .  .  .  The  citizens  of  Provi- 
dence are  mild,  unassuming,  artless,  and  the  very  milk 
of  human  kindness.  They  are  genteel,  but  not  so  re- 
fined as  the  people  of  Boston.  .  .  .  They  are  stout, 
fine  looking  men;  the  ladies,  particularly,  are  hand- 
some, and  many  of  them  highly  accomplished.  Both 
sexes  .  .  .  have  a  very  independent  carriage. 


THE    END 


Index 


Abbott,  Daniel,   39,  123-126,   154, 

203. 
Abbott,  Daniel,  Jr.,  192,  194,  197. 
Abbott,  Mary,  192. 
Abbott's  Parade,  198. 
Admiralty,  judge  of,  263-264. 
Advertising  signs,  319-321,  325,  326, 

327,  345- 

Africa,  270,  272,  274,  275,  276.  See 
also  Guinea  Coast. 

Ainsworth,  Rev.  Henry,  /Annota- 
tions, 86. 

Alexander,  Indian  sachem,  87. 

Algiers,  81. 

Allen,  Zachariah,  18. 

American    Revolution,    324,    328, 

329,  331,  334,  359- 
Amusements,  303-313, 
Anabaptism,  26. 
Anamaboe,  273-274. 
Andrews,  John,  264. 
Angell,  Abigail.  See  Goddard,  Mrs. 

William. 
Angell,  Capt.  Abraham,  195,  252- 

2S3,  257. 
Angell,  Brig.-Gen.  Israel,  317. 
Angell,  James,  221-222. 
Angell,  President  James  B.,  195. 
Angell,  John,  360-361. 
Angell,  Thomas,  15. 
Ann,  schooner,  252. 
Antigua,  251,  270,  274. 
Antrim,  William,  163,  184. 
Antrim,  Mrs.  William,  184. 
Apothecary  shop,  344-345. 
Aquidneck,  island  of,  32,  91. 
Arcade,  the,  373-374. 
Arithmetic,  215-217,  219. 
Armstrong,  Gen.  John,  332. 
Arnold,  Benedict,  56,  61-62. 
Arnold,  Oliver,  321-323. 
Arnold,  Richard,  157. 
Arnold,  Thomas,  65. 


Arnold,  William,  101-102. 

Arnold  family,  176. 

Ashford,  Conn.,  200. 

Assembly,  the,  petitions  to,  210, 
211,  220-221,  284-292,  307-309, 
336-340,  349;  laws,  orders,  and 
resolves  of,  103, 108,  109-110, 123, 
153-154,  167,  183,  212,  213,  222, 
223-224,  225. 

Atheism,  172-73. 

Attleborough,  Mass.,  172,  189,  279. 

"Attleborough  Gore,"  147. 

Atwell,  Amos,  221.  / 

Backus,  Rev.  Isaac,  31,  95,  98. 

Balch,  Nathaniel,  320,  338. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  317. 

Bank  Lane,  210. 

"Baptist  Cathedral."  See  Baptist 
Meeting-house,  First. 

Baptist  Meeting-house,  First,  204- 
206,  223,  359,  360-365,  367. 

Baptists,  27,  38,  40,  76,  78,  108, 
131-132,  140,  160,  163,  165,  181- 
182,  183,  184,  189,  190,  195,  203, 
204-206,  230,  329-330,  335-365, 
passim.  See  also  Baptists,  Six 
Principle,  Baptists,  Five  Princi- 
ple, and  Baptists,  Philadelphia 
Association  of. 

Baptists,  Five  Principle,  76. 

Baptists,  Six  Principle,  131,  152, 
230-231. 

Baptists,  Philadelphia  Association 

of,  336- 
Barbadoes,  129,  227,  249,  253,  257. 
Barbary  pirates,  81. 
Barnard,     Mary.      See    Williams, 

Mary. 
Barnes,  John,  228,  232. 
Barrington,  Lady,  5,  7,  8. 
Bass,  Rev.  John,  200-203,  295,  296, 

299,  301. 


378 


Index 


Basue  (Bissao?),  273. 

Battle,  Mrs.,  231. 

Bay  Colony.  See  Massachusetts. 

Beckwith,  Truman,  371. 

Beer,  112,  116,  117,  126. 

Beggar^ s  Opera,  The,  311. 

Beneficent  Church,  198. 

Bennet,  Col.  Job,  336. 

Bennett,  Joseph,  297. 

Berkeley,  Dean  George,  166. 

Bernon,  Gabriel,  159-160,  161,  163, 
164,  180-181,  183,  184,  185-187, 
188,  189-190,  193,  298. 

Bernon,  Mrs.  Gabriel,  185,  186. 

Bewit,  Hugh,  130. 

Black  Boy,  Sign  of  the,  331,  327. 

Blackstone,  Rev.  William,  147. 

Blackstone  River.  See  Pawtucket 
River. 

Block  Island  Channel,  238. 

Books,  85,  86,  116,  150,  151,  172, 
173,  175,  179-180,  256,  316.  See 
also  Libraries. 

Boot,  Sign  of  the,  320. 

Boston,  trade  of,  151-152,  178,  228, 
293,  297;  donation  from,  for 
King's  Church,  164;  opposition 
of,  to  Checkley,  170-171;  reli- 
gious efforts  of,  189-190;  Provi- 
dence fire-engine  at,  222;  vessels 
from,  255;  music  in,  304;  stage- 
coaches to,  325,  374;  refinement 
of  the  people  of,  375. 

Bowen,  Benjamin,  344,  345. 

Bovven,  Dr.  Ephraim,  177,  267,  302, 

338.  344,  3S2. 
Bowen,  Dr.  Jabez,  Sr.,  234,  243, 

344-345- 
Bowen,  Dr.  Jabez,  Jr.,  236,  260, 

284,  302,  320,  338,  344. 
Bowen,  Mrs.  Jabez,  259-260,  261, 

263. 
Bowen,  Oliver,  352. 
Boy  and  Book,  Sign  of,  325. 
Bradford,  Gov.  William,  ii. 
Bradstreet,  Gov.  Simon,  135. 
Brady  and  Tate's  Psalms,  175. 
Braintrec,  Mass.,  294,  295. 
Braxton,  Carter,  271-272. 


Brazen  Lion,  Sign  of  the,  320. 

Brinley,  Francis,  81. 

Bristol,  R.  L,  185,  192,  296,  301. 

Britannia,  ship,  263. 

British,  the,  268,  333,  365. 

Brooks,  John,  147. 

Brown,  Chad,  38-39,  176,  192,  230, 

352- 
Brown,  Mrs.  Chad,  39. 
Brown,  Elisha,  221,  255,  267,  279- 

281,  283-286,  288. 
Brown,  Mrs.  Elisha,  280. 
Brown,    Hope.     See    Ives,    Mrs. 

Thomas. 
Brown,  J.,  236. 
Brown,  James  (I),  39. 
Brown,  James  (II),  231,  233,  238. 
Brown,    Capt.    James    (III),    177, 

230-255,  passim,  258,  275,  279. 
Brown,  James  (IV),  253-255. 
Brown,  Mrs.  James,  Jr.,  177,  230, 

232,  239,  247,  255. 
Brown,  John,  Sr.,  39. 
Brown,  John,  Jr.,  39,  177,  215,  216, 

217,  265,  269,  272-273,  283,  284, 

306,    307,    309,    352,    366-367; 

Cipher  Book,  215,  233.    See  also 

Brown,  Nicholas,  and  Company. 
Brown,  John,    son    of   Nathaniel, 

185. 

Brown,  John  Carter,  368. 

Brown,  John  Carter,  House,  321. 

Brown,  John  Carter,  Library,  254. 

Brown,  Joseph,  177,  272-273,  276- 
277,  283,  350,  352,  361-362,  367. 
See  also  Brown,  Nicholas,  and 
Company. 

Brown,  Moses,  17,  39,  177,  178, 
234,  236,  255,  258-259,  260,  261, 
262,  272-273,  276-277,  283,  284, 
320,  338,  349,  352.  See  also 
Brown,  Nicholas,  and  Company. 

Brown,  Nathaniel,  150,  161-163, 
184-185,  188,  228,  229. 

Brown,  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  185. 

Brown,  Nicholas,  Sr.,  177,  178,  254- 
255,  269,  271-273,  274,  276-277, 
283,  304,  306,  307,  309,  319,  327, 
338,  349-350.  352,  361,  365.   See 


Index 


379 


also  Brown,  Nicholas,  and  Com- 
pany. 

Brown,  Nicholas,  Jr.,  319,  365. 

Brown,  Mrs.  Nicholas,  Jr.,  319. 

Brown,  Nicholas,  and  Company, 
271-272,  273,  274,  276-277,  350- 
351,  368. 

Brown,  Obadiah,  221-222,  244-255, 
passim,  260,  276,  338,  376.  See 
also  Brown,  Obadiah,  and  Com- 
pany. 

Brown,  Obadiah,  and  Company, 
255,  263-264,  270,  315. 

Brown,  Polly.  See  Bowen,  Mrs. 
Jabez,  Jr. 

Brown,  Justice  Richard,  205. 

Brown  and  Ives,  368. 

Brown  University,  318,  340,  362, 
371.  375-  See  also  Rhode  Island 
College. 

Browne,  Rev.  Arthur,  166,  167, 
170,  186. 

Bunch  of  Grapes,  Sign  of  the,  373. 

Burrough,  Mrs.  Desire.  See  Hop- 
kins, Mrs.  Esek. 

Burrows,  William,  65-68. 

Callender,    Rev.    John,    Historical 

Discourse,  135. 
Candles,   133,   134,  222,  250,  275, 

276. 
Canonchet,  Indian  chief,  88,  99. 
Canonicus,  Indian  chief,  II,  18-19, 

21,  46. 
Cap  Francois,  259,  263. 
Carew,  Dr.  Samuel,  202. 
Caribbees,  the,  244. 
Carpenter,  Timothy,  196. 
Carpenter,  William,  73. 
Carrington,  Edward,  368-369. 
Carter,    Ann.     See    Brown,    Mrs. 

Nicholas,  Jr. 
Carter,  John,  318-320,  324. 
Catherine  II,  314. 
Cattle,  29,  30,  55,  105,  128,  275. 
Cawcawmsqussick,   21,  43,  44-46, 

47- 
Chace,  Henry  R.,  184. 
Chace,  Samuel,  177. 


Charlestown,  R.  I.,  224. 
Charlotte,  queen  of  England,  316, 

341- _ 
Charming  Molly,  sloop,  265. 
Cheapside,  373. 
Checkley,  Rev.  John,  170-177,  179, 

180,  185,  194-195,  264. 
Checkley,  Mrs.  John,  179. 
China,  331,  334,  366. 
Chirurgions  Mate,  The,  85. 
Church  of  England,  4,  7,  9-13,  160, 

161,  162,  166,  170,  171,  174,  204. 

See  also   Episcopalians;  Gospel, 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of; 

King's  Church. 
Church-bell,  364. 
Clark  and  Nightingale,  321,  325. 
Clarke,  James,  139. 
Clarke,  Dr.  John,  30,  48,  50,  57-58, 

61. 
Clarke,  Jonathan,  320. 
Clarke,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  259,  262. 
Clarke,  Walter,  137,  138. 
Clawson,  John,  40-41,  68-75,  7^, 

109. 
Clergymen,  pay  for,  131-132,  140, 

182. 
Coach,  the  first,  178-179. 
Coal,  introduction  of,  372. 
Coddington,  William,  patent  of,  47- 

48,  50,  SI,  S3- 
Coke,  Sir  Edward,  3-4,  7,  8. 
Cole,  John,  322-324. 
Coles,  Robert,  105. 
College  life,  3S6-3S9- 
Colonial  Commissioners,  Board  of, 

34- 
Colonial  legislature.  See  Assembly, 

the. 
Colony  House  (new),  212-213. 
Colony  House  (old),  211-212,  213, 

215,  2x8,  220,  221. 
Comer,  Rev.  John,  165,  169. 
Conanicut,  island  of,  47. 
Concord     Distil-House,     201-202, 

29s.  296,  321. 
Congregationalists,  167,  183,  188- 

203,  224,  295,  299-305,  336,  337, 

338,  339- 


38o 


Index 


Connecticut,  patent  for,  47;  dam- 
age to,  from  King  Philip's  War, 
87-97;  opposition  of,  to  Provi- 
dence settlers,  lOi;  disputed  land 
claim  with  Rhode  Island,  181; 
missionary  efforts  of,  188,  189- 
190;  Congregationalism  in,  200; 
supplies  from,  275. 

"Consociation,"  299-300. 

Continental  Army,  333. 

Continental  Congress,  260,  345. 

Cooke,  Nicholas,  338. 

Cooper,  J.  F.,  The  Weft  of  Wish- 
ton-Wish,  99. 

Copper,  Thomas,  133-134. 

Corn,  price  of,  30. 

Cotton,  Rev.  Josiah,  193-194,  195, 
196,  295. 

Cotton,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  192-193. 

Cotton,  Rev.  Thomas,  193. 

Council  of  State,  47. 

Country  Road,  202. 

Court-house,  207-209,  211,  212, 
226. 

Crabtree,  Benoni,  234. 

Cranston,  John,  98. 

Cranston,  R.  I.,  80,  113,  288. 

Crawford,  Ann.  See  Updike,  Mrs. 
John. 

Crawford,  Gideon,  148-150,  186, 
298. 

Crawford,  Mrs.  Gideon,  149,  150, 
161-162,  186. 

Crawford,  Huldah.  See  Stelle,  Mrs. 
Benjamin. 

Crawford,   Capt.  John,    150,    151, 

152,  164,  184,  228,  251. 

Crawford,  Joseph,  186. 

Crawford,  Mrs.  Joseph,  186. 

Crawford,  Susannah.  See  Nightin- 
gale, Mrs.  Samuel,  Jr. 

Crawford,  Maj.  William,  150,  152- 

153,  164,  186,  228. 
Crawford,  Mrs.  William,  150,  152. 
Crocker,  Rev.  Nathan  B.,  329. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  S,  57,  130. 
Crown  Coffee  House,  325. 
Cumberland,  R.  I.,  284. 
Curricula,  215-217,  219,  355-356. 


Dancing  school,  31 1-3 13. 

Dawson,  Mr.,  312. 

Decalogue,  First  Table  of,  10. 

Deerfield,  Mass.,  88. 

Deists,  163. 

Desire,  ship,  263-264,  268-269. 

Dexter,  Ebenezer  Knight,  256,  325, 

370,  371. 
Dexter,  Gregory,  34,  78-79. 
Dexter,  Capt.  John,  156-157. 
Dexter,  Knight,  325. 
Dexter,  Stephen,  255-256. 
Dexter  Asylum,  370. 
Dinwiddle,  Gov.  Robert,  305. 
Distilleries,  201-202,  242,  244,  246, 

277,  295,  296,  321. 
Dolphin,  sloop,  150,  244. 
Dominica,  276. 
Dorr,  Henry  C,  162. 
Dorr,  Sullivan,  370-371. 
Dorr,  Thomas  W.,  370. 
Dorr  War,  370. 
Douglass,  David,  307. 
Drought,  306,  308. 
Drowne,  Dr.  Solomon,  334,  355- 

357- 

Drowne,  Mrs.  Solomon,  332,  334. 

Drunkenness,  prevention  of,  54-55, 
no.   See  also  Liquor  traffic. 

Dumpling  Island,  R.  I.,  236. 

Dunwell,  John,  177. 

Dunwell's  Gangway,  177. 

Dutch,  the,  war  upon,  53,  69,  87, 
112;  trade  with,  54,  loi,  151,  226; 
peace  with,  57;  Warner's  diffi- 
culty with,  106-107;  ship  of,  cap- 
tured, 259. 

Dutch  West  Indies,  275. 

Dyer,  Eliphalet,  264. 

Dyer,  William,  51,  52. 

Earl,  William,  270. 

East  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  348. 

East  Indies,  217,  366,  375. 

East  Providence,  R.  I.,  185.  ^ 

East  Side  Whipple  Hall,  220. 

East  Siders,  the,  290,  291,  294,  327. 

Easton,  John,  87-88. 

Easton,  Mass.,  196. 


Index 


381 


Edmonds,  Capt.  Andrew,  146. 

Edmunds,  William,  158. 

Education,  loi,  167-168,  169,  215- 
220,  335-359,  passim. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Morgan,  140,  339, 
346,^  348. 

Electricity,  310. 

Elephant,  Sign  of  the,  326, 

Endicott,  Gov.  John,  136. 

England,  wars  with,  268,  365; 
money  for  Rhode  Island  College 
from,  348;  church  of,  see  Church 
of  England. 

English  Pilot,  The,  etc.,  254. 

Episcopalians,  189,  303,  304,  328, 
339.  See  also  Church  of  England; 
Gospel,  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the;  King's  Church;  and 
names  of  individual  clergymen. 

Factories,  159,  276,  375.    See  also 

Mills. 
Fenner,  Capt.  Arthur,  78,  79-80, 

81,  82,  83,  94,  95,  98,  113,  114- 

117,  119-120,  129,  138,  143,  149, 

153,  227-228. 
Fenner,   Freelove.    See   Crawford, 

Mrs.  Gideon. 
Fenner,  Sarah.    See  Antrim,  Mrs. 

William. 
Fenner,  Thomas,  115,  117. 
Ferry,  the  first,  145-146, 
Ferry  Lane,  278-279. 
Field,  Edward,  The  Colonial  Tavern, 

117. 
Field,  Capt.  John,  197,  251-252. 
Field,  Thomas,  124,  156. 
Field,  William,  93,  227. 
Fines,  53,  54,  55,  no,  122, 123,  171, 

236. 
Finlay,  Hugh,  324. 
Fire,  measures  for  the  prevention  of, 

220-225,  280. 
Fire-engines,  221-223,  280. 
Firefly,  ship,  374. 
Fish,  Elder,  195. 
Fisher,  Ashford  Dispute,  86. 
Five  Principle  Baptists.    See  Bap 

lists.  Five  Principle. 


Flagg,  Mr.,  303. 

Food,  28-29,  106. 

Forrest,  Edwin,  99. 

Fort  Royal,  Martinique,  237. 

Four  Bachelors,  sloop,  233,  235, 

Four  Mile  Line,  20. 

Fowler's  Hill,  220. 

Fox,  George,  28,  63,  203. 

Fox  Point,  18. 

France,  war  against,  264,  265,  268, 

270;  peace  with,  276. 
Francis,  Tench,  and  Son,  263-264, 

270. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  211,  318. 
Freelove,  sloop,  255. 
Freemen,  poor,  282-283,  284,  286- 

292. 
French  War,  Old,  264. 
Friends,  28,  30,  61-63,  9i>  92,  93. 

94,  98,  137,  139,  163,  203-204, 

209,  213. 
Friends,  Society  of,  203,  204. 
Friends'    Meeting-house,    203-204, 

319- 
Frying-Pan  and  Fish,  Sign  of   the, 

321. 
Fulton,  ship,  374. 
Furniture,  42-43,  84-85,  86,   1 16, 

149-150,  151,  187,  240,  241,  257. 

Gambia  River,  273,  274. 
Gaol,  the,  209,  213-215,  227. 
Gaol  Lane,  178-179,  204,  209,  214. 
Gardner,  Peregrine,  168. 
General  Assembly.    See  Assembly, 

the. 
General  Court  of  Providence.    See 

Providence,  General  Court  of. 
General  Washington,  ship,  366. 
Gentleman  jocky,  The,  85. 
George  HI,  of  England,  316,  341. 
Ghent,  treaty  of,  332. 
Gibbs,  Doctor,  234. 
Gibbs,  George,  249. 
Gibbs,  James,  362. 
Gladding,  B.  H.,  Company,  373. 
Glocester,  R.  L,  284,  287. 
Gloves,  trade  in,  56. 
Goddard,  Sarah,  314,  317. 


382 


Index 


Goddard,  William,  313,  314,  316- 
318,  324. 

Goddard,  Mrs.  William,  317-318. 

Goddard,  William  Giles,  318. 

Godfrey,  John,  245,  246. 

Gold,  supposed  discovery  of,  43. 

Golden  Ball,  Sign  of  the,  320. 

Golden  Eagle,  Sign  of  the,  326,  327. 

Gorton,  Ann,  108. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  Sr.,  31-32,  60,  63. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  Jr.,  251,  252. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  Simplicitie's  De- 
fence, 108. 

Gortonists,  139,  163,  360. 

Gospel,  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the,  160,  163,  164,  167, 
169,  172,  175.  See  also  Church  of 
England,  and  King's  Church. 

Gospell  preacher.  The,  85. 

Graves,  Mr.,  179. 

Graves,  Rev.  John,  304. 

Great  Salt  River.  See  Moshassuc 
River. 

Great  Swamp  Fight,  89-90,  91,  92, 
141,  230. 

Green,  James,  326. 

Greenwich,  R.  I.,  275. 

Grist-mill,  41,  43. 

Guild,  Dr.  Reuben  A.,  362. 

Guinea  Coast,  244,  245,  246-247, 
271,  272,  276.  See  also  Africa, 
slaves,  etc. 

Hacker,  Joshua,  302. 

Hacker's  Hall,  302,  312. 

Hacker's  Packet,  302. 

Hailstorm,  173. 

Halsey,  Col.  Thomas  Lloyd,  369. 

Hamilton,  Francis,  235. 

Hammond,  Jonathan,  361-362. 

Handy,  Maj.,  333. 

Handy,    Ann.     See   Russell,   Mrs. 

John,  Jr. 
Harding,  Thomas,  246. 
Harris,  Howlong,  82-83. 
Harris,  Mary.    See  Bernon,   Mrs. 

Gabriel. 
Harris,  Thomas,  134. 
Harris,  Toleration,  91-92. 


Harris,  William,  16,  22,  61,  63-64, 
76-81,  82,  83-85,  88,  89,  90,  91, 

92,  97- 
Harris,  Mrs.  William,  81,  83. 
Harrud,  John,  80. 
Hart,  Frances,  139. 
Hart,  Thomas,  136,  137-138. 
Harvard  College,  294-295,  347. 
Hat,  Sign  of  the,  320. 
Hay,  306,  308. 

Hearndon,  Benjamin,  41,  71,  74, 75. 
Heating,  methods  of,  372. 
Hempstead,  L.  I.,  30. 
Herrenden  Lane,  289. 
Highways,  121-123,  146-147,  153- 

154,  _IS6-IS7- 
Hispaniola,  260,  262. 
Histrionic  Academy,  306,  308,  309. 
HoUiman,  Ezekiel,  26,  107-108. 
Honduras,  Bay  of,  315. 
Honeyman,  Rev.  James,   160-161, 

163,  164,  172,  180-181,  189-190. 
Hope  College,  368. 
Hope  Furnace,  276. 
Hope  Island,  33, 

Hopkins,  Capt.  Christopher,  264. 
Hopkins,   Commodore   Esek,   258, 

259,  266-268,  269,  272,  273,  274, 

276. 
Hopkins,  Mrs.  Esek,  266. 
Hopkins,  George,  258-263,  338. 
Hopkins,  Mrs.  George,  260-261. 
Hopkins,  John,  258. 
Hopkins,  Judge  Rufus,  258,  263- 

264,  269. 
Hopkins,  Sarah.  S^^  Whipple,  Mrs. 

Abraham. 
Hopkins,  Silvanus,  258. 
Hopkins,   Gov.   Stephen,  209-211, 

214,  257-258,  260-261,  264,  266, 

267,  268,  281-284,  288,  314,  338, 

341. 

Hopkins,  Mrs.  Stephen,  260. 

Hopkins,  William,  264. 

Horses,  245,  275. 

Houses,  42-43,  84-85,  86,  iio-iii, 
I12-113,  115,  116,  152,  186,  208, 
240,  280,  366-371.  See  also  Fur- 
niture. 


Index 


383 


Howard,  Martin,  309. 
Howard,  Mrs.  Martin,  309. 
Howell,  David,  342,  345,  347. 
Howland,     John,      205-206,     328, 

333- 
Hoyle,    Dr.    John,    190-192,    196, 

224. 
Hubbard,  Samuel,  136. 
Hudson  River,  campaigns  of,  333. 
Hull,  Edward,  52. 
Humbird,  sloop,  243,  244. 
Humphreys,  Rev.  Dr.  David,  163, 

287. 
Hunt,  Simeon,  269. 
Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Anne,   26,  226, 

323. 

Impressment  of  seamen,  265. 

Indians,  Williams's  work  among 
and  friendship  for,  lo-ii,  18-19, 
20,  21,  78,  135;  lands  purchased 
from,  II,  19-21,  45,  103;  attacks 
by,  44-45,  54,  57,  87-97,  91,  95, 
113,114,121;  rum  for,  54-55, 
112;  murders  committed  by,  71- 
74,  108,  109,  no,  258;  Checkley's 
work  among,  172.  See  also  names 
of  the  various  tribes. 

Infidels,  175-176. 

Inman,  Edward,  56. 

Inn,  John  Whipple,  152. 

Inn,  Turpin's,  283. 

Inn-keepers,  109-112,126-128,  190. 

Inoculation  hospital,  324. 

Insolvent  Debtors'  Act,  284. 

Insurance,  maritime,  268,  270-271, 
276. 

Ireland,  348. 

Ironworks,  276,  293. 

Ives,  Thomas,  368. 

Ives,  Mrs.  Thomas,  365,  368. 

Ives,  Thomas  Poynton,  368. 

Jackson,  Capt.  George,  327. 
Jamaica,  248,  258. 
Jenckes,  Judge   Daniel,   177,   223, 
267,  268,  272,  337-338,  339,  349- 
Jenckes,  Joana,  329. 
Jenckes,  Jonathan,  272. 


Jenckes,  Joseph,  Sr.,  181. 
Jenckes,    Gov.    Joseph,     181-183, 

204. 
John,  sloop,  257-258. 
Johnston,  R.  I.,  191,  288,  318, 
Jones,  Alexander,  371. 
Jones,  George  F.,  371-372. 
Jones,  John,  134. 

Kees,  Shadrach,  242-243. 

Killingly,  Conn.,  275. 

King  Philip's  War,  80,  87-97,  u?" 

118,  146,  181,  192,  227,  230. 
King's   Church,    160-176,   passim, 

179,  180,  185-186,  188,  217,  316, 

324,  329,  365. 
Kinnicutt,  Roger,  162,  249,  293. 
Knight,  Ebenezer,  195,  256. 

Ladd,  Samuel,  239. 

Land,  division  of,  22-25,  38-40, 
102;  importance  of,  in  Providence 
development,  102-106;  price  of, 
75,  102,  105,  107,  128;  purchase 
of,  II,  19,  45,  104;  for  schools, 
168,  169.  See  also  Pawtuxet 
purchase. 

Lamed,  Miss  Ellen  D.,  History  0/ 
Windham  County,  300. 

Latin  language,  347,  357. 

Latin  School  at  Warren.  See  Rhode 
Island  College. 

Laud,  Bishop  William,  4,  8. 

"Laying  on  of  Hands,"  131,  182, 
360. 

Leeward  Islands,  233,  235. 

Legislature,  Colonial.  See  Assem- 
bly, the. 

Libel,  281-282. 

Libraries,  85,  86,  209,  210-213,  354. 
See  also  Books. 

Lightfoot,  Judge,  269. 

Lighting,  methods  of,  373. 

Lippitt,  Christopher,  264. 

Lippitt,  Jeremiah,  264. 

Lippitt,  Joseph,  264. 

Liquor  traffic,  54-55,  lOl,  109,  no, 
111-112,  126-127. 

London,  Edward,  129. 


38  + 


Index 


London,  4,  221,  222,  255,  327. 

Lottery,  310,  320,  361. 

Louisiana,  315. 

Loyalists,  309. 

Lyndon,  Gov.  Josias,  336,  337. 

Lynn,  Mass.,  293,  320. 

Lyon,  ship,  9. 

MacSparran,  Rev.  Dr.  James,  161, 

172,  204,  324. 

Malbone, ,  272. 

Manning,    President   James,    132, 

334,  335-336,  339,  340,  341,  342, 

345,  348-349,  349-350,  351,  353- 

354,  355,  359-360,  363. 
Manning,  Mrs.  James,  335. 
Martin,  Sir  William,  15. 
Martinique,  229,  236,  237,  244,  250, 

251,  252,  263. 
Mary,  sloop,  245-246,  247-248. 
Maryland,  255. 
Masham,  Sir  William,  5. 
Mashapaug,  143,  144. 
Mason,  Benjamin,  273,  296,  306, 

307,  361. 

Masons,  Order  of  Free,  367. 

Massachusetts,  opposition  of,  to 
Roger  Williams,  1 1-17,  33,  34-35; 
discussions  concerning  royal  pat- 
ents for,  12-14;  supplies  from,  29, 
275;  opposition  of,  to  Providence 
settlers,  30-32,  loi,  145;  diffi- 
culty of,  with  the  Narraganset 
Indians,  54;  opposition  of,  to  the 
Quakers,  61,  62;  damage  to,  from 
King  Philip's  War,  87-97,  P^^- 
sim;  abandons  claim  to  Pawtuxet 
lands,  103;  Waterman  banished 
from,  139;  action  of,  as  to  Check- 
ley,  171;  missionary  efforts  of, 
189,  190,  193. 

Massachusetts,  General  Court  of, 

13,  14,  15,  30-31- 
Mather,  Rev.  Dr.  Cotton,  13-14, 

lOI. 

Mather,  Rev.  Dr.  Increase,  90. 
Mathewson,  Zachariah,  191,  197. 
Mathewson,  Mrs.  Zachariah,  199. 
Mawney,  John,  264. 


Medfield,  Mass.,  192,  301. 
Mendon,  Mass.,  88,  147,  189,  331, 

333- 
Mercury,  Newport  newspaper,  305, 

348-349- 

Merigold,  sloop,  252. 
Merritt,  John,  178-180. 
Messer,  President  Asa,  357. 
Metacomet.      See    Philip,     Indiau 

sachem. 
Miantonomi,  Indian  chief,  11,  88. 
Military  organization,  53-54. 
Miller,  Capt.,  259. 
Mills,  41,  42,  43,  226,  280-281,  285. 

See  also  Factories,  and   various 

industries. 
Mississippi,  315. 
Molasses,  245,  246,  247,  251,  252, 

25s,  258,  263-264,  275. 
Monroe,  President  James,  374. 
Monte  Cristo,  260,  262. 
Moody,  Samuel,  193. 
Moro  Castle  taken  by  Storm,  drama, 

306. 
Moshassuc  River,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21, 

23,  100. 
Mount  Hygeia,  334. 
Mowry,  Roger,  67,  107,  108,  log- 
in, 112. 
Music,  182,  302-305,  360. 

Nancy,  ship,  327. 

Nantucket,  Mass.,  276. 

Narraganset  Indians,  Williams 
seeks  a  refuge  among,  15;  land 
grants  from,  18-19,  63-64;  Wil- 
liams pacifies,  34,  54;  trade  with, 
45,  loi;  Williams's  works  among, 
45,  135;  friendship  of,  for  Provi- 
dence, 57;  attacks  of,  69;  in  King 
Philip's  War,  88-97;  missions 
among,  161. 

Narragansett  Bay,  14,  19,  38,  loi, 
174,  226,  244,  328. 

Narrow  Passage,  279. 

Negroes,  169,  187,  242,  271,  274, 
369.   See  also  Slaves. 

Neutaconkonet  district,  157. 

New  Amsterdam,  44,  45. 


Index 


385 


New  Jersey  College.   See  Princeton 

University. 
New  Light  Meeting-house,  198. 
New  Lights,  174,  175-176,  I94-I9S, 

295- 

New  Orleans,  315. 

New  York,  273. 

New  York  City,  240,  243,  276,  307, 

314,317- 

Newbern,  N.  C,  254. 

Newfoundland,  227,  240. 

Newport,  R.  L,  43,  56,  57,  174,  243; 
trade  and  commerce  of,  29,  136, 
151,  209,  226-227,  249,  272,  27s, 
296;  government  of,  32,  37;  union 
of,  with  Providence,  52;  charter 
read  in,  58;  welcomes  the  Quak- 
ers, 63;  prison  at,  72,  73;  attitude 
of,  concerning  defences  against 
the  Indians,  94,  138;  religion  in, 
160,  161;  O'Hara  imprisoned  at, 
166;  resolve  that  the  governor 
must  live  at,  182-183;  James 
Brown,  Jr.,  in,  23  5-23  6;  Hopkins's 
vessels  in,  257;  prizes  brought  to, 
264;  Esek  Hopkins  in,  266;  polit- 
ical supremacy  of,  281;  Provi- 
dence opposes,  283,  286;  theatres 
in,  30.5-306;  British  in,  328,  331; 
action  of,  relative  to  Rhode  Is- 
land College,  335,  336,  348,  349. 

Newspaper,  first,  313-319.  See  also 
Providence  Gazette,  etc. 

Nightingale,  Joseph,  321,  367-368. 

Nightingale,  Samuel,  Sr.,  201,  294- 
297,  302,  338. 

Nightingale,  Mrs.  Samuel,  Sr.,  296. 

Nightingale,  Samuel,  Jr.,  294,  297- 
299,  302. 

Nightingale,  Mrs.  Samuel,  Jr.,  298. 

Ninigret,  Indian  chief,  21,  54. 

Nixon,  Robert,  242. 

North  Providence,  288-289,  324. 

Northampton,  Mass.,  194. 

Norwich,  Conn.,  276. 

Norwood's  Tryangles,  85. 

O'Hara,  Joseph,  165-166. 
O'Hara,  Mrs.  Joseph,  165. 


Old  Brick  Schoolhouse,  218,  219. 

Old  Country  Road,  191,  197. 

Old  Gaol  Lane,  214. 

Old  Market  House,  367. 

Old  Trinity  Church,  365. 

Olney,  Daniel,  234. 

Olney,  Epenetus,  41,  129. 

Olney,  Capt.  Joseph,  320. 

Olney,  Lydia,  82,  85-86,  143-144. 

Olney,  Richard,  325. 

Olney,  Thomas,  Sr.,  72,  74,  75,  76- 
77,  82,  85-86,  143,  146,  155. 

Olney,  Thomas,  Jr.,  56,  74,  146. 

Olney,  William,  208. 

Olney's  Lane,  280. 

Onions,  272,  276. 

Op  Dyck,  Gysbert.  See  Updike, 
Gysbert. 

Organ,  musical,  302-305. 

Outram,  William.  See  Antrim,  Wil- 
liam. 

Oysters,  276. 

Packer,  Fearnot,  235. 

Page,  William,  208. 

Paget,  Henry,  176,  177,  264. 

Paget,  Mrs.  Henry,  176. 

Paper,  scarcity  of,  313. 

Parade,  the,  179,  192,  253,  279,  289, 

344- 
Parliamentary  Commissioners,  35. 
Patience  Island,  33. 
Pavements,  134,  372-373. 
Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  19;  founding  of, 

181;    removal  of  Jenckes   from, 

183;  supplies  for,  279. 
Pawtucket  River,  147,  159. 
Pawtucket  Road,  178. 
Pawtuxet,  R.  I.,  purchase,  63-64, 

76-82,   103;  Indian  raids  upon, 

91,  95;  supplies  from,  275. 
Pawtuxet  River,  19,  20,  23. 
Pawtuxet  Road,  191. 
Peage,  74. 

Peddlers,  147-148,  279. 
Pensacola,  Fla.,  316. 
Pequod  Indians,  29,  34. 
Pequod  Path,  20-21,  44,  loi,  106. 
Perrigo,  Robert,  320. 


386 


Index 


Philadelphia,  Pa.,   260,  261,  263- 

264,  269,  273,  314,  317. 
Philadelphia    Association   of   Bap- 
tists, 336. 
Philip     (or     Metacomet),     Indian 

sachem,  87-99,  passim. 
Phoebe,  sloop,  243. 
Pictures,  316. 

Pigot,  Rev.  George,  164-165. 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  10,  44. 
Pitch,  159. 
Plainfield,    Conn.,    153,    154,    191, 

27s,  299,  300. 
Plainfield  Road,  199,  202. 
Playing-cards,  267,  312-313. 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  10,  17,  29,  44,  87, 

89-90,  145. 
Pocasset  River,  20,  24. 
Pococke,  John,  83. 
Pomfret,  Conn.,  153,  275,  294,  295. 
Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  32,  36,  37,  52, 

166. 
Potter,  Simeon,  296-297. 
Pound,  the  town,  105,  224. 
Power,   Hope.     See   Brown,   Mrs. 

James,  Jr. 
Power,  Nicholas  (I),  229. 
Power,  Nicholas  (II),  141,  229,  230. 
Power,   Col.   Nicholas   (III),    188, 

229-230,  233,  239-241,  242. 
Power,  Mrs.  Nicholas  (III),  230. 
Power,  Rebecca,  141. 
Pray,  Ephraim,  127. 
Pray,  Mary,  126-127. 
Pray,  Richard,  69-70,  lOQ. 
Prayer,  231. 

Presbyterian  Lane,  194,  296. 
Presbyterian  Society,  201. 
Presbyterians,   183,   188-203,   224, 

339- 
Prince,  Rev.  Thomas,  New  England 

Chronology,  211. 
Prince  George,  ship,  264. 
Princeton    College,    302-303,    335, 

342,  3SI- 
Privateering,  259,  261-263,  passim, 

265-266,  267,  268-269,  270. 
Prizes,  ships  taken  as,  259,  261-262, 

262-263,  266,  267,  268-269,  3I4« 


Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  Society 
for  the.  See  Gospel,  Society  for, 
etc. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  founding,  17-18; 
boundaries,  19-20J  topography, 
20-21,  100;  a  shelter  for  the 
"distressed  of  conscience,"  21- 
23;  division  and  readjustment  of 
lands,  23-24,  38-41;  growth  and 
government,  24-25;  religion,  25- 
28,  100,  loi,  102,  131-132,  160- 
176,  passim,  181-182,  183,  188- 
206,  _  295,  299-305,  359-365; 
scarcity  of  food  and  supplies,  28- 
31,  227;  difficulty  respecting  the 
land  title,  31;  application  for  a 
patent,  32;  the  patent  is  granted, 
34;  formation  of  government  and 
establishment  of  laws,  36-38; 
treatment  of  newcomers,  40,  104- 
105;  industrial  development,  41- 
44,  56;  Coddington  and  his  pat- 
ent, 47;  measures  to  annul  the 
Coddington  grant,  47-48,  50,  51; 
unfriendly  attitude  of  Ports- 
mouth and  Newport,  51-52;  Wil- 
liams becomes  president,  52-53; 
union  of,  with  the  island  towns, 
52;  military  discipline,  53-55; 
method  of  taxation,  55-56;  the 
new  charter,  its  reception  and 
influence,  57,  58-59;  lawlessness 
during  the  absence  of  Williams, 
60-61;  restoration  of  order,  61; 
arrival  and  establishment  of  the 
Quakers,  62-63;  the  "Pawtuxet 
purchase,"  63-64,  76-82,  passim; 
action  taken  on  the  Burrows  es- 
tate, 66-68;  on  that  of  John 
Clawson,  70,  71-73,  74-75;  liti- 
gations concerning  the  dividing- 
line,  80-82,  86-87;  damage  and 
destruction  wrought  by  King 
Philip's  War,  87-97,  passim,  114, 
I17-118;  defenseless  position  of, 
against  Indian  outbreaks,  90-95; 
primitive  fortifications,  93-94; 
burning  of,  95,  96;  town-records, 
96-97,  123,  124,  125;  construe- 


Index 


387 


tion  of  defences  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  garrison,  98;  the  char- 
acter and  temporal  condition  of 
the  "first-comers,"  100-102;  edu- 
cation and  schools,  loi,  167-168, 
169,  215-220,  335-359,  passim; 
trade  with  the  Dutch,  loi;  land, 
and  the  important  part  it  played, 
102-106;  inn-keepers  and  the 
liquor  trafhc,  109-112,  126-128; 
houses,  furniture,  etc.,  iio-iil, 
112-113,  115,  116;  domestic  life 
and  surroundings,  115-117;  ac- 
tion in  regard  to  the  Weybosset 
Bridge,  118-121;  laws  as  to  good 
roads,  1 21-123;  town  meeting- 
house, 123-125,  126,  127;  pay- 
ment of  Daniel  Abbott's  debt, 
124-125,  126;  a  period  of  pro- 
sperity and  progress,  128-130; 
beginnings  of  seaport  life,  128- 
130;  first  church  in,  132;  regula- 
tions concerning  indigent  per- 
sons, 133-134;  first  sidewalk  in, 
134;  gives  land  to  Williams's 
sons,  140,  141;  letter  respecting 
the  bounds  of,  142;  enlarged  com- 
mercial intercourse,  145-147; 
first  ferry-boat,  146;  highways, 
146-147,  153-154,  156-157,  178- 
179;  newcomers,  147-153,  158- 
160;  the  Crawfords  and  their 
enterprise,  148-153;  the  rebuild- 
ing of  the  Weybosset  Bridge,  154, 
155,  156;  restrictions  put  upon 
warehouse  lots,  155;  the  town 
wharf,  156;  expansion  of  agricul- 
tural operations,  157-158;  Gab- 
riel Bernon  and  his  influence,  159- 
160,  185-187;  King's  Church, 
160-176,  passim,  179,  180,  185- 
186,  217;  Humphreys's  descrip- 
tion of,  163-164;  Gilbert  Tennent 
and  the  revivalists  in,  173-174; 
175-176;  severity  of  the  winter  of 
1740-1741,  174-175;  additional 
newcomers,  176-187;  efforts  to 
establish  the  "Congregational  or 
Presbyterian   way"  of  worship, 


188-203,  299-305;  renewed  zeal 
among  the  Quakers,  203-204; 
among  the  Baptists,  203,  204- 
206;  growth  in  population,  206- 
207;  becomes  one  of  the  "three 
separate  and  distinct  counties" 
in  the  division  of  the  colony,  207; 
the  County  Court-House,  207- 
209,  211,  212;  public  library,  209, 
210-213;  the  gaol,  209,  213-215; 
Colony  Houses  (old  and  new), 
211-212,  213,  215,  218,  220,  221; 
town  and  private  schooiij  214- 
220;  fire  department,  220-225; 
the  beginnings  of  the  shipping 
trade,  226-228;  the  increased 
activity  in  the  same,  229;  ship- 
ping enterprises  of  the  Browns, 
230-255;  of  the  Hopkins,  257- 
264;  privateering  interests,  264- 
271;  slave-traffic,  270-275;  home 
industries  of  the  Browns,  276- 
277;  entrance  into  politics,  and 
the  Ward-Hopkins  controversy, 
281-284;  the  poor  freemen's  pe- 
titions, and  the  division  contro- 
versy, 286-292;  business  successes 
of  the  Nightingales,  294-299; 
music,  theatres,  and  public  amuse- 
ments, and  the  attitude  of  the 
people  toward  the  same,  303-313; 
first  newspaper,  and  the  printing 
business,  313-314,  316-319;  ad- 
vertising methods,  319-321;  law- 
yers, 321-324;  shops,  and  shop- 
keepers, 325-326;  the  Russells, 
326-334;  Rhode  Island  College, 
335-359,  passim,  367;  "Baptist 
Cathedral,"  360-365;  houses, 
366-371;  municipal  improve- 
ments—  heating,  pavements,  etc., 
372-373;  the  Arcade,  373-374; 
transportation  facilities,  374;  Mrs. 
Royall's  description  of,  374-375. 

Providence,  General  Court  of,  36- 
38,  51,  61-62. 

Providence,  ship,  258,  261. 

Providence  Cadets,  329. 

Providence  Gazette  and  Country 


388 


Index 


nal,  etc.,  202-203,  294,  298,  310, 
313-319,  322,  326,  343,  344,  346, 

359,  361. 
Providence  Library,  209,  210-213. 
Prudence  Island,  33. 
Psalms,  Brady's  and  Tate,  175. 

Quakers.  See  Friends. 

Rainbozv,  sloop,  249-251,  252,  253, 
257. 

Randal,  Peter,  224. 

Redock,  Henry,  65-66,  67,  68. 

Rehoboth,  Mass.,  Williams  pre- 
pares to  settle  in,  16;  trade  of,  29, 
145, 227,  279; road  through,  146- 
147;  Congregationalism  in,  167 
192,  301;  Nathaniel  Brown  in 
184;  absentee  parishioners  of 
191;  Josiah  Cotton's  school  at 
193-194. 

Religion,  state  of,  in  England,  4,  8 
controversies  over,  9-13,  26-27, 
299-305;  toleration  in,  25,  58 
61-63,  100,  loi;  tenets  and  new 
sects,  131-132,  181-182,  230- 
232,  295,  310;  awakened  interest 
in,  160-176,  188-206,  passim. 
See  also  different  denominations; 
names  of  individual  clergymen; 
Gospel,  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of;  King's  Church,  etc. 

Reprisal,  sloop,  264-265,  267. 

Revivalists,  173-174,  175-176,  360. 

Revolution.  See  American  Revolu- 
tion. 

Rhode  Island,  appeal  to,  to  oppose 
the  Quakers,  61;  damage  to,  from 
King  Philip's  War,  87-97,  passim; 
defenseless  position  of,  against 
Indian  outbreaks,  90-95;  San- 
ford's  report  on,  129;  donation 
from,  for  King's  Church,  164; 
disputed  land  claim  with  Con- 
necticut, 181;  religious  zeal  in, 
203;  commerce  of,  226,  275;  ques- 
tion of  libel  in,  281-282.  See  also 
names  of  individual  towns. 

Rhode  Island,  battle  of,  333. 


Rhode  Island,  General  Assembly  of. 
See  Assembly,  the. 

Rhode  Island  College,  39,  335-359, 
passim,  367.  See  also  Brown  Uni- 
versity. 

Rhode  Island  Historical    Society, 

215,  373- 
Richman,  Irving  B.,  12. 
Roads,  1 21-123.  See  also  Highways. 
Rogers,     Rev.    William,    341-342, 

346. 
Rosemary  Lane,  194. 
Rosin  factory,  159. 
Rowland,  Rev.  David  S.,  299-302. 
Rubber  overshoes,  372. 
Rum,  246,  247,  248,  251,  255,  271, 

272,    273,    274,    275.     See    also 

Liquor  traffic,  and  Distilleries. 
Russell,  Charles  Handy,  334. 
Russell,     Elizabeth,    daughter    of 

Joseph,  Sr.,  329. 
Russell,     Elizabeth,     daughter    of 

Thomas,  Sr.    See  Drowne,  Mrs. 

Solomon. 
Russell,  Hayley,  329. 
Russell,  Hopkins,  329. 
Russell,  John,  327,  330-332. 
Russell,  Mrs.  John,  Jr.,  333. 
Russell,  Jonathan,  Sr.,   327,   330- 

331,332-333- 
Russell,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  331-332. 
Russell,  Joseph,  Sr.,  326-330,  332. 
Russell,  Joseph,  Jr.,  328-329,  332. 
Russell,  Thomas,  Sr.,  326,  333. 
Russell,  Thomas,  Jr.,  330-331,  332- 

334- 
Russell,    Col.    William,    326-327, 

328,  329-330,  332,  361. 
Russell,  Capt.  William,  Jr.,  331. 
Russia,  314. 

Sabin,  Thomas,  325-326. 

St.  Croix,  248. 

St.  Eustatius,  229,  245,  250,  251, 

252. 
St  John's,  Newfoundland,  314. 
St.  John's  Church,  180,  185-186. 
St.  Kitt's,  251. 
St.  Martin's,  251. 


Index 


389 


Salem,  Mass.,  9,  10,  11,  13,  14,  15, 

16,  293. 
Sally,  brig,  272,  276. 
Salt,  159. 

Sanford,  Gov.  Peleg,   "Report  on 
the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,"  129. 
Sarah,  sloop,  152. 
Saw-mills,  42,  43,  226. 
Schism,  185. 
Schools,    167-168,    169,     214-220, 

226,  335-359,  passim. 
Scituate,  R.  I.,  195,  209,  266,  284, 

287. 
Scotch  Plains,  N.  J.,  335. 
Scott,  Catherine,  62. 
Scott,  Hannah,  137,  138,  139. 
Scott,  Mary,  137. 
Scott,  Richard,  25-26,  27-28,  35- 

36,  137,  163,  184. 
Scott,  Mrs.  Richard,  25-26,  27-28. 
Seekonk.   See  Rehoboth,  Mass. 
Seekonk  Plain,  147. 
Seekonk  River,   17,  18,  19,  20,  21, 

22,  23,  145,  178,  278. 
"Separatism,"  299-300. 
Sessions,  Deputy-Gov.  Darius,  302, 

321. 
Seven  Brothers,  ship,  269. 
Seven  Years'  War,  306. 
Shakespeare's  Head,  Sign  of,  319. 
Shawomet.     See  Warwick,  R.  I. 
Shepard,    George,     I18-I19,     121, 

129,  154. 
Sherwood,  Joseph,  221-222. 
Shipping,  129-130. 
Ships,  as  prizes,  259,  261-264,  266, 

267,268-269,314.  See  also  names 

of  individual  ships. 
Shipyards,  228,  249,  293,  327. 
Signs,    advertising,    319-321,    325, 

326,327,345. 
Six    Principle  Baptists.     See  Bap- 
tists, Six  Principle. 
Skelton,  Rev.  Samuel,  11. 
Slate  Rock,  17. 
Slaves   and   slave-trade,   187,   242, 

247,  248,  270,  271,  272,  273,  274- 

275,  276,  280,  285. 
Slave-ship,  244. 


Smith,  Benjamin,  260. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Benjamin.  See  Hop- 
kins, Mrs.  Stephen. 

Smith,  Catherine,  45. 

Smith,  Charles,  280. 

Smith,  Christopher,  251. 

Smith,  John,  of  Dorchester,  Mass., 
16,  41-43. 

Smith,  John,  of  Providence,  R.  I., 
227. 

Smith,  Joseph,  134. 

Smith,  Nathaniel,  265. 

Smith,  Richard,  44-46,  47,  92,  128, 

I3S- 
Smith,  Richard,  Jr.,  45. 
Smith,  Ruth.    See   Hopkins,  Mrs. 

George. 
Smith,  William,  158-159. 
Smith  and  Sabin,  325-326. 
Smithfield,  R.  I.,  176,  287. 
Smithfield,  ship,  255,  268. 
Smuggling,  270. 
Snow,  Elder  Joseph,  196-198,  201- 

202,  29s,  296,  352,  353,  359. 
Snow,  Joseph,  Jr.,  196,  197,  198- 

200,  220. 
Snow's    Meeting-house,     197-198, 

202. 
"Snow  Neighborhood,"  293,  295, 

297. 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 

Gospel.   See  Gospel,  Society  for, 

etc. 
South  Carolina,  260,  261. 
South    County.     See    Washington 

County. 
South  Kingston,  R.  I.,  89. 
Spain,  258,  266. 
Spanish  Main,  253. 
Spanish  War,  264,  265,  267. 
Sparrow,  ship,  242. 
Speedwell,  sloop,  315. 
Spermaceti  works,  276. 
Sprague,  Jonathan,  152,  157,  183, 

184,  189,  204,  206. 
Stage-coaches,  325,  374. 
Stamp  Act,  309,  317. 
Stark,  Gen.  John,  333. 
Stelle,  Benjamin,  342-344,  345. 


390 


Index 


Stelle,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  343. 
Stiles,  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra,  301,  302,  303, 
304-305,  336,  337,  338,  339-340. 

351,  363-364- 
Stites,    Margaret.     See    Manning, 

Mrs.  James. 
Stites,  Richard,  342. 
"Stompers,  The,"  56-57. 
Stratford,  Conn.,  164. 
Stuart,  John,  241-242. 
Sullivan,  Maj.-Gen.  John,  333. 
Sultan,  ship,  292. 

Sultan's  Head,  Sign  of  the,  292,326. 
Sun-dial,  167. 
Surinam,  229,  230,  251,  252,  253, 

260,  274,  296. 
Swan  Point  Road,  166. 
Swansea,  Mass.,  88,  169,  196. 
Sweeting,  Dr.  Henry,  177,  185,  196. 
Sweeting,  Job,  185. 
Sweeting,     Nightingale  and,  296- 

297. 

Tanning  industry,  56. 

Tar,  133-134.  159- 

Tate  and  Brady,  Psalms  of,  175. 

Taunton,  Mass.,  172,  174,  275. 

Taxation,  55-56,  128,  220-221,  280. 

Taylor,  George,  167,  169-170,  207, 
217-218,  219. 

Ten-Mile  River,  278-279. 

Tennent,  Rev.  Gilbert,  173-174, 
194. 

"Tennent  Meeting  House,"  198. 

Theatres,  305-309,  311. 

Thornton,  John,  136. 

Throckmorton,  John,  1 19. 

Thurston,  Luke,  270. 

Tillinghast,  Benjamin,  230. 

Tillinghast,  Elisha,  246. 

Tillinghast,  Mercy.  See  Power, 
Mrs.  Nicholas. 

Tillinghast,  Nicholas,  and  Com- 
pany, 269. 

Tillinghast,  Pardon,  40,  123,  128- 
129,  130-133,  204,  230. 

Tioli,  John  B.,  31 1-3 13. 

Tobacco,  30,  143,  245,  251,  271,  272, 
275. 


Tobago,  276. 

Tockwotton,  R.  I.,  276,  323. 

Tooth-powder,  316. 

Towne  Wharf,  267,  279. 

Toys,  267. 

Trade,  Lords  of,  report  to,  129. 

"Travellers,  The,"  inn,  202. 

Tristram  Shandy,  ship,  328. 

Truth  and  Delight,  sloop,  236,  237- 

238. 
Turk's  Head,  292-293,  294. 
Turpin,  William,  168-169. 
Turpin's  Inn,  283. 
Two  Brothers,  ship,  268. 
Two  Sisters,  ship,  268. 

Underhill,  Capt.  John,  15,  52. 
Unicorn  and  Mortar,  Sign  of  the, 

345. 
Updike,  Daniel,  323. 
Updike,  Dr.  Gysbert,  45. 
Updike,  J.,  236. 
Updike,  Capt.  John,  314-316,  319, 

343- 
Updike,  Mrs.  John,  314-315,  343. 
Updike,  Lodowick,  314. 
Updike,  Sarah.  See  Goddard,  Sarah. 
Updike,   Wilkins,   Memoirs  of  the 

Rhode  Island  Bar,  3  29. 
Uxbridge,  Mass.,  178,  275. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  34, 48,  49,  52, 103. 
Varnum,  Gen.  James  Mitchell,  345. 
Verin,  Joshua,  16,  27. 
Vice-admiralty,  court  of,  262,  269. 
Virginia,  259,  271. 
Votes,  22,  40,  281,  282-283. 

Walker's  Point,  279. 

Wampanoag  Indians,  war  of,   87- 

97,  passim. 
Wanasquatucket  River,  19,  20. 
Wanskuck,  R.  I.,  157,  235. 
Wanton,    Gov.    Joseph,    273-274, 

277.  284,  338,  353. 
Wanton,    William,    273-274,   277, 

338. 
Ward,  Artemus,  225. 
Ward,  Samuel,  281-284,  288. 


Index 


391 


Warner,  John,  106-108, 
Warner,  John,  Jr.,  108. 
Warren,  R.  I.,  340,  342,  345,  346, 

348.  354- 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  47. 

Warwick,  R.  I.,  secures  the  same 
privileges  as  Providence,  37;  pat- 
ent for,  47;  suit  against,  80;  de- 
struction of,  87,  92,  140;  removal 
of  the  inhabitants  of,  95;  pur- 
chase of,  106,  139;  action  of,  in 
the  case  of  John  Warner,  107; 
highway  through,  154;  Check- 
ley's  Sermons  at,  172;  supplies 
from,  275. 

Washington  County,  281. 

Waterman,  Benoni,  234. 

Waterman,  Judge  John,  181. 

Waterman,  Resolved,  1 19-120,  139, 
140. 

Waterman,  Richard,  16,  139,  243, 
244. 

Watson  and  Gladding,  373. 

Waumanitt,  Indian  prisoner,  71, 
72-74,  108,  no. 

Wayland,  President  Francis,  352. 

Wentworth,  sloop,  266-267. 

West,  Mr.,  303. 

West  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  154. 

West  Indies,  216,  233,  240,  244,  247, 
248,  251,  252,  258,  259,  261,  27s, 
276,  296.  5^1?  also  names  of  West 
India  Islands,  etc. 

West  Siders,  the,  190,  289-292,  327. 

Westerly,  R.  I.,  21,  54. 

Westminster,  R.  I.,  291-292. 

Weybosset  Bridge,  118-121,  154, 
198,  224,  228,  232,  289,  290,  293, 
296. 

Weybosset  Neck,  162,  228. 

Weybosset  Point,  177,  196,  224, 
290,  291.  See  also  Weybosset 
Bridge. 

Wharv-es,  128,  130,  134-13S,  140, 
149,  156,  228. 

Wheat,  price  of,  30. 

Wheel  of  Fortune,  ship,  270,  276. 

Wheelock,  Rev.  Eleazer,  195-196, 
256. 


Whipple,  Capt.  Abraham,  259,  260, 

261,  266,  274. 
Whipple,  Mrs.  Abraham,  261. 
Whipple,  Mrs.  Alice,  165. 
Whipple,  Jabez,  223-224. 
Whipple,  Capt.  John,  Sr.,  119,  123, 

127. 
Whipple,  Capt.  John,  Jr.,  126,  127- 

128,  219,  228. 
Whipple,  John,  Inn,  152. 
Whipple,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  168. 
Whipple,  Col.  Joseph,  127-128,  150, 

164,  165,  181,  188. 
Whipple,  Samuel,  129. 
Whipple,     Sarah.     See    Crawford, 

Mrs.  William. 
Whipple  Hall,  219. 
Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  194. 
Whitman,  Jacob,  Sr.,  291,  292,  293- 

294,  302. 
Whitman,  Jacob,  Jr.,  294. 
Wickford,  R.  I.,  21,  44,  45,  92,  314, 

323- 
Wicks,  Francis,  16. 
Williams,  Daniel,  140,  141-143. 
Williams,  Freeborn,  28,  136,  137, 

138-139. 
Williams,  James,  143-144. 
Williams,  Joseph,  82,  85,  141,  143- 

,144- 

Williams,  Lydia.  See  Olney,  Lydia. 

Williams,  Mary,  wife  of  Roger,  8, 
9,  13,28,  49-50,  SI,  97. 

Williams,  Mary,  daughter  of  Roger, 
28. 

Williams,  Mercy,  139,  140. 

Williams,  Patience,  142. 

Williams,  Peleg,  142-143. 

Williams,  Providence,  28,  97,  140- 
141,  227-228. 

Williams,  Roger,  87,  92,  98,  114, 
190,  226;  genealogy,  early  occu- 
pation, and  education,  3-4;  chap- 
laincy, 5;  courtship,  5-6;  legal 
studies,  7;  enters  the  ministry, 
7-8;  annuity  and  marriage,  8; 
arrives  in  Salem,  9;  political  and 
religious  controversies,  9-10,  II- 
14;  work  among  and  friendship 


392 


Index 


for  the  Indians,  lo-il,  18-19,  20, 
21,78,  135;  character,  12,  33,  36, 
46,48-50, 61 , •'expulsion  from  Salem 
and  refuge  among  the  Indians, 
14-16;  attempted  settlement  at 
Rehoboth,  16;  founds  Provi- 
dence, 17-18;  secures  land  grants 
from  the  Indians,  18-19;  appor- 
tions the  land,  22-24;  baptism 
and  religious  experiences,  26,  27, 
28,  107-108;  family  and  difficulty 
of  providing  for  them,  28-31; 
goes  to  England  to  secure  a  pat- 
ent, 32,  33;  Key  into  the  Lan- 
guage of  America,  34;  secures  the 
charter  and  returns  to  America, 
34;  his  homecoming,  35-36;  set- 
tles at  Cawcawmsqussick,  45-46; 
efforts  to  annul  Coddington's 
patent,  47-51;  "Experiments  of 
Spiritual  Life  and  Health  and 
their  Preservatives,"  49;  becomes 
president  of  the  colony,  52-53; 
mends  the  breach  between  Mas- 
sachusetts and  the  Narraganset 
Indians,  54;  restores  order  to  the 
colony,  61;  opposition  to  the 
Quakers,  62-63,  137>  protest 
against  the  "Pawtuxet  pur- 
chase," and  consequent  unpopu- 
larity, 64;  takes  charge  of  Wil- 
liam Burrows's  estate,  65-66; 
befriends  John  Clawson,  and 
seeks  to  administer  upon  his 
estate,  69,  70,  71,  75;  withdraws 


from  the  Baptist  Church,  76;  op- 
poses Harris  and  the  Pawtuxet 
purchase,  77-79 ;  children,  82, 
136-144,  227;  negotiations  with 
the  Narragansets  during  King 
Philip's  War,  88;  efforts  to  se- 
cure defences  against  the  In- 
dians, 93-94;  seeks  to  ward  off 
Indian  attack,  95-96;  opinion 
concerning  the  liquor  traffic,  1 12; 
maintains  the  bridge  at  Wey- 
bosset,  1 19-120;  proposes  the 
payment  of  Abbott's  debt,  124- 
125;  letter  of,  concerning  the 
printing  of  his  sermons,  135;  last 
services  and  death,  136,  144; 
family  life,    136-137. 

Williams,  Roger,  grandson  of 
Roger,  184. 

Williamsburg,  Va.,  305. 

Wilson,  John,  9. 

Winslow,  Edward,  governor  of  Ply- 
mouth, 16-17. 

Winsor,  Rev.  Samuel,  140,  184,  206. 

Winsor,  Samuel,  Jr.,  140. 

Winthrop,  Gov.  John,  15,  22,  26, 

28,  43.  H3- 
Winthrop,  Mrs.  John,  28,  46. 
Wood,  Mr.,  372. 
Woodstock,  Conn.,  153,  328. 
Worcester,  Mass.,  275. 

Yale  College,  347. 
Yorktown,  Va.,  255. 
Young  Benjamin,  sloop,  365. 


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